Balance of power, alliances and collective security

International Relations · Security, conflict and diplomacy. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.

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The idea

States seek security in several ways. In a balance of power, no state is allowed to grow strong enough to dominate the rest; others combine against it. An alliance is a formal agreement among some states to help each other against an outside threat.

Collective security is different. All members promise to act together against any aggressor, even one of their own number: 'one for all and all for one'. The League of Nations and the UN were built on this idea.

Deterrence prevents an attack by threatening a cost the attacker will not accept. It needs capability, a credible will to act, and clear communication of the threat. Compellence, by contrast, makes an opponent stop or undo something already begun.

Rules to remember

Alliances: NATO (1949; Article 5, an attack on one is an attack on all); Warsaw Pact (1955).
Failures of League collective security: Japan in Manchuria, 1931; Italy in Ethiopia, 1935.
Appeasement = giving in to an aggressor's demands to avoid war: Munich Agreement, 1938.
Containment = stopping the spread of Soviet influence: George Kennan's 'X' article and the Truman Doctrine, both 1947.
Détente = easing of US-Soviet tension in the 1970s: SALT I (1972), Helsinki Final Act (1975).
Neutrality = legal status of staying out of wars between others: Switzerland.
Non-alignment = staying out of the Cold War blocs: Non-Aligned Movement, first summit at Belgrade, 1961. Rollback = pushing communism back where it already ruled.

Common mistake

Students call NATO an example of collective security. NATO is an alliance (collective defence) against an outside attacker; collective security covers every state in the system and is aimed at any aggressor, including a member.

Worked example

Match each policy with its example: (i) appeasement, (ii) containment, (iii) détente. Examples: the Helsinki Final Act of 1975; the Munich Agreement of 1938; the Truman Doctrine of 1947.

Appeasement is conceding to an aggressor: Britain and France did this at Munich in 1938.
Containment is blocking the spread of Soviet influence: the Truman Doctrine of 1947 promised support to states resisting it.
Détente is the relaxation of East-West tension in the 1970s: the Helsinki Final Act of 1975 belongs to it.

Answer: (i) Munich 1938, (ii) Truman Doctrine 1947, (iii) Helsinki Final Act 1975.

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