Balance of Power in World History

The balance of power is one of the most influential ideas in international relations, yet it has never been systemically and comprehensively examined in pre-modern or non-European contexts; this book redresses this imbalance.

The balance of power is one of the most influential ideas in international relations, yet it has never been systemically and comprehensively examined in pre-modern or non-European contexts. This book redresses this imbalance. The authors present eight new case studies of balancing and balancing failure in pre-modern and non-European international systems. The collective, multidisciplinary and international research effort yields an inescapable conclusion: much of the conventional wisdom about the balance of power does not survive intact with non-European evidence.

STUART J. KAUFMAN is Professor of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Delaware. RICHARD LITTLE is Professor of International Politics at the University of Bristol. WILLIAM C. WOHLFORTH is Professor of Government at Dartmouth College.

Introduction: Balance and Hierarchy in International Systems–S.J.Kaufman, R.Little & W.C.Wohlforth * Balancing and Balancing Failure in Biblical Times: Assyria and the Ancient Middle Eastern System 900-600 BCE–S.J.Kaufman & W.C.Wohlforth * Greek City States in the Fifth Century BCE: Persia and the Balance of Power–R.Little * Intra-Greek Balancing, the Mediterranean Crisis of ca. 201-200 B.C.E and the Rise of Rome–A.Eckstein * The Forest and the King of Beasts: Hierarchy and Opposition in Ancient India 500 – 232 BCE–W.Brenner * The Triumph of Domination in the Ancient Chinese System–V.Tin-Bor Hui * The Expansion of Rome 500-0 BCE–D.Deudney * Hierarchy and Opposition in the American Systems, 1400-1800 CE–C.Jones * Stability and Hierarchy in East Asian International Relations, 1300 to 1900–D.Kang * Conclusion: Theoretical Insights from the Study of International History–S.J.Kaufman, R.Little & W.C.Wohlforth