It was not until the beginning of the 17th century, when the science of international law took shape at the hands of Grotius and his successors, that the theory of the balance of power was formulated as a fundamental principle of diplomacy in the realist theory. According to Cobden, the first instance in which we find the "balance of power" alluded to in a king's speech is on the occasion of the last address of William III . A balance of power exists when there is parity or stability between competing forces. As a term in international law for a "just equilibrium" between the members of the family of nations it expresses the doctrine intended to prevent any one state from becoming sufficiently strong to enforce its will upon the rest.The principle involved in this, as Hume pointed out in his Essay on the Balance of Power, would be as old as history. But during the greater part of the 19th century the series of national upheavals which remodelled the map of Europe obscured the balance of power; Cobden speaks of the balance of power as a "mere chimera" , criticising Lord Brougham and Gentz but failing to examine their arguments with great care.
[...] Maybe the balance of power theorists do not often ask us to consider the outcomes of the major conflicts among great powers as triumphs of the system. They tend to concentrate the periods of stability and relative peace between the great wars and to neglect the wars themselves. Finally, the balance of power entertains a very dubious relationship with war, which can on the first hand be an end to recover the equilibrium of the international relations, but which can on the other hand show the failure of the good functioning of the balance of power. [...]
[...] But judging from the example of the period 1914-1918, one can tell that the balance of power system failed in 1918, or that in terms of the preservation of international order, the 1914-1918 war and subsequent events amount to a vindication of the balance of power. Alliance politics and arms race are ways of maintaining a balance of power without war, but if they fail war may be necessary, as an essential mechanism for preserving the balance of power according to Cobden. [...]
[...] And why would he proselytize about the balance of power if it would really happen necessity” Waltz states that the balance of power will happen if states take notice of their surroundings, adjust their policies to changes in the configuration of power worldwide, and if the actual distribution of power is such that a balance can emerge. To him, states do not wish to create balances of power, at least not as a first preference. Balances of power are accepted because there is no alternative source of security anywhere near as effective[9]. [...]
[...] Nevertheless, as Carl Friedrich Von Weizsäcker states, pure balance of power systems are inherently unstable because each power acts rationally when it increases its power relative to others, but the indefinite accumulations of power which this generates are irrational from the point of view of the whole system[19]. Futhermore, Martin Wight argues that the historical records show a tendency towards the concentration of power rather than towards its balanced distribution[20]. So maybe the most efficient equilibrium to permit the working of the balance of power resides in a 1934 Churchill speech at the House of Commons you wish to bring about war, you bring about such a balance that both side think they have a chance of winning. [...]
[...] What ails the balance of power theory is that like war, it has a language but no logic. The possessors of the logic are the states themselves. Though when statecraft of the era before WWI is analysed through the lens of the security dilemma, or a similar analogue of game theory, the issue of Germany's will to conquest is filtered out. Finally, the place of folly and wisdom of policy also are effectively ignored by the balance of power theory. [...]
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