Browsing by Subject "Balance of power."

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Open Access
Balance of power theory meets Al Qaeda : dynamics of non-state actor balancing in postinternational politics
(2008) Denk, Aytaç
The bulk of studies on the balance of power, which constitutes balance of power theory, suggest that only states are involved in balance of power dynamics. This thesis maintains that exclusion of non-state actors (NSAs) from balance of power dynamics constitutes a significant gap in balance of power theory. This gap originates from a failure to notice fundamental changes in the structure of, and actorness in, world politics. As a result of these macro level and micro level changes, NSAs became both motivated and capable of balancing against states. This thesis evaluates Al Qaeda’s challenge against the United States as a case study of balancing behavior. A close examination of its discourse reveals that Al Qaeda is motivated to balance against America while mechanisms that it uses demonstrate that the organization is capable of engaging in such balancing. This balancing behavior has not only undermined American power but also appears to be playing a role in global power distribution dynamics in world politics. This thesis is, in short, an attempt to fill the theoretical and empirical gap that exists in balance of power theory. It concludes that the full potential of balance of power theory can be realized only by extending its boundaries to cover the postinternational world structure and thus opening it up to NSAs.
Open Access
A constructivist analysis on balancing : the impact of US war on terror on China and Russia
(2012) Sarı Karademir, Burcu
This dissertation provides a constructivist analysis of balancing under unipolarity by examining the question of how the US war on terror has influenced China’s and Russia’s tendency to balance against the United States. To answer this question, this dissertation looks at how China’s and Russia’s security understandings have evolved as a result of their bilateral relations with the US and US security practices in international relations since the end of the Cold War. It points out that China’s and Russia’s interactions with the US have produced micro-cultures in which rivalry over international status and insecurity have become dominant. The dissertation argues that China’s and Russia’s reactions to the US war on terror were shaped by their security understandings. It states that after a temporary betterment of relations with the US, both states’ concerns about their status in international relations were intensified after US unilateralism in the Iraq war. In addition, the dissertation points out that unipolarity exists in a Lockean culture at macro-structural level in which the US has the primary status empowering it to shape the norms of international relations. It stresses that as China and Russia want to play a role in the rule-making process and management of the international order, they are concerned by US status as the system-maker. The dissertation concludes that China and Russia might balance against the US due to the insecurities produced at macro and microstructural levels.