What best can be done to maintain the balance of power as a component of traditional notion of external securi

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Q. What best can be done to maintain the balance of power as a component of traditional notion of external security ?

CBSECBSE Class XII Board 2020Subjective· 2mImportance★★★★★

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Concept understanding — Balance Of Power

Let’s start with something you already know. Think of a seesaw in a playground. If two children of roughly equal weight sit on opposite ends, the seesaw stays level — neither side can simply slam the other to the ground. But if a heavy adult sits on one side, the child on the other end is stuck in the air, helpless. The seesaw works only when both sides have enough weight to check each other.

That is the core intuition behind Balance of Power in international relations. It is the idea that peace and stability are most likely when no single country or group is so powerful that it can dominate all others. Instead, power is distributed in such a way that any one actor who tries to push too far will be met by a combination of others strong enough to push back.

The precise meaning

In the NCERT Class 12 Political Science textbook (Chapter 1, The Cold War Era), Balance of Power is described as a situation in which no one nation or alliance is so powerful that it can threaten the security of others. It is not about everyone being equally strong — that is impossible. It is about a rough equilibrium, where the cost of aggression becomes too high for any would‑be bully.

The textbook explains that during the Cold War, the world saw a classic example: the United States and the Soviet Union were the two superpowers. Each had a huge arsenal of nuclear weapons and a network of allies. Neither could defeat the other without suffering unacceptable damage. That mutual fear — not goodwill — kept the peace between them for decades. This is Balance of Power working at the global level.

Why does it matter?

Balance of Power is not a law of nature; it is a strategy that countries deliberately pursue. Here is why it matters:

It prevents one country from becoming a hegemon — a single power that can dictate terms to everyone else. History shows that when one state becomes overwhelmingly strong, it tends to bully its neighbours, and war becomes more likely.
It creates a system of deterrence. If you know that attacking another country will bring in its allies against you, you think twice. This is why countries form alliances (like NATO during the Cold War) — to pool their strength and make the balance tilt against an aggressor.
It gives smaller countries room to survive. A small nation can stay independent not because it is strong, but because the big powers are too busy checking each other to swallow it up. This is called the security dilemma in reverse: the very rivalry of the strong protects the weak.

Note

Balance of Power is not the same as peace. It can lead to intense rivalry, arms races, and proxy wars — as happened during the Cold War. But it does tend to prevent a direct, all‑out war between the major powers. The peace it gives is a tense, armed peace, not a harmonious one.

How do countries maintain a balance?

Countries use several tools to keep the balance from tipping:

Alliances — binding agreements to come to each other’s aid if attacked. Example: the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) or the Warsaw Pact.
Armaments — building up one’s own military strength so that an adversary cannot easily win.
Buffer states — keeping a neutral country between two rivals so they do not share a direct border (e.g., Afghanistan between the British and Russian empires in the 19th century). …

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Maintaining balance of power requires building military strength, forming strategic alliances, pursuing active diplomacy, and ensuring no single state becomes overwhelmingly dominant in the international system.

Balance of power has been the cornerstone of traditional security thinking since the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. The idea is straightforward: peace and stability are best preserved when power is distributed among several states rather than concentrated in one. When any nation grows too strong, it threatens the independence of others and invites conflict. The challenge, then, is how to actively maintain this equilibrium.

The most direct method is building and maintaining credible military capability. A state must be strong enough to deter aggression and defend its interests. This doesn't necessarily mean matching the largest power weapon-for-weapon, but possessing sufficient strength that any potential aggressor would face unacceptable costs. During the Cold War, both superpowers invested heavily in nuclear arsenals precisely to ensure neither could dominate the other. Smaller states too must maintain armed forces adequate to their regional context—not to conquer, but to ensure they cannot be easily conquered.

Alliance formation is equally vital. States with shared interests or common threats band together to pool their strength. When one power grows dangerously strong, others combine to counterbalance it. This was the logic behind NATO's creation in 1949, when Western European states and North America joined forces to balance Soviet power. Similarly, the Concert of Europe in the nineteenth century saw major powers cooperate to prevent any single state from dominating the continent after Napoleon's defeat. Alliances shift as threats change; yesterday's enemy may become today's partner if the balance requires it.

Active diplomacy and negotiation keep the system flexible and prevent rigidity that leads to war. Regular dialogue, treaties, and arms control agreements help manage competition without letting it spiral into conflict. The various disarmament conferences, bilateral summits, and multilateral forums serve this purpose. Diplomacy also involves recognizing legitimate interests of other powers—a willingness to accommodate rather than confront on every issue. The balance of power is not about permanent enmity but about preventing domination.

Note

The balance of power is dynamic, not static. It requires constant adjustment as states rise and fall, technologies change, and new actors emerge. What worked in one era may fail in another.

States also practice internal balancing—strengthening their own economic and technological base. A robust economy funds military capability and generates the innovation that keeps a state competitive. Education, infrastructure, industrial capacity—all contribute to national power. A state that neglects its internal development will find itself unable to maintain its position no matter how many alliances it signs. …

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Same / Similar Concept — real previous-year questions on the same or a closely similar concept, not this exact question.

CBSE 2024Set 59/2/11 markMCQ
$Q.'Balance of power' requires countries to __________. (A) give up certain kinds of weapons (B) regulate acquisition and development of weapons (C) coordinate their actions to defend against military attack (D) maintain a favourable balance with other countries$
›Reveal solutionSolution

Balance of power is a strategy in which states maintain military and diplomatic strength roughly equal to potential rivals, preventing any single country from becoming dominant enough to threaten others.

The balance of power is one of the oldest and most enduring concepts in international relations. It rests on a simple but powerful idea: no single state should be allowed to become so strong that it can dominate all others. When one country grows too powerful, it threatens the independence and security of everyone else. To prevent this, states must constantly watch each other's strength and adjust their own capabilities accordingly.

The mechanism works through vigilance and adjustment rather than disarmament or collective security. Each country monitors the military and economic power of potential rivals. If one state begins to pull ahead—building up its armed forces, forming threatening alliances, or expanding its territory—others respond by strengthening themselves. They might increase military spending, forge counter-alliances, or develop new weapons systems. The goal is not to eliminate weapons or even to cooperate, but to ensure that no one player can dictate terms to the rest.

This is fundamentally different from collective security (where countries coordinate defense against aggression) or arms control (where they agree to limit certain weapons). Balance of power is competitive, not cooperative. It assumes that states are rivals who must rely on their own strength and strategic positioning. A country practicing balance-of-power politics asks itself: "Are we strong enough relative to our potential enemies? If not, what must we do to catch up or counterbalance them?" …
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Q.What best can be done to maintain the balance of power as a component of traditional notion of external security ?

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