In his article, ‘The Balance of Power: Prescription,
Concept, or Propaganda?’ Haas has tried to decipher the real meaning of ‘balance
of power’. He tries to distinguish between the verbal meaning of the term and
how the term is implemented in real life.
To
begin with, the idea of the balance of power is very important from the realist’s
perspective. They believe that states compete for survival and hence each state
wants to maximize its own power. This then leads to a system where power acts
against power thereby deterring threats from others states and creating an atmosphere
where power between states becomes balanced. Haas elaborates on this concept
and puts forward the idea that eventually there comes a time when states that
seek ‘aggrandizement’ and states which stand against it end up balancing out
one another.
Moreover, he states that in international politics sates are
guided by the concept of balance of power. They are then able to protect their sovereignty
and come up with policies that guard their national interest. Also, they are
able to withstand the threat from states with expansionary policies. Lastly, he
said that a form of system would emerge if states held on to the principles of
balance of power. In such a system states would be able to align and fight
together against an external threat thereby maintaining the status quo. The Second
World War can be seen as an example of this idea. When Britain along with other
countries realized that the policy of appeasement wasn’t working with Hitler as
his demands seemed to be never ending, they decided to align and fight against
Germany when she invaded Czechoslovakia. Had they not done this then it would’ve
been possible that the power order in Europe would be distorted. Hence in order
to preserve their own power, Britain and France attacked on Germany.
Interesting post, though there is one point of clarification - the Allies didn't come together to challenge Germany until after it invaded Poland, not Czechoslovakia.
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