Stephen walt: "Alliances: Balancing or Bandwagoning"
Stephen Walt accepts the realist principles of an anarchical system with self-interested states that have the tendency to conflict, but he differs from traditional realists due to his believe in common interest alliances. While Walt believes that alliances are possible his understanding of alliances is realist because he believes that they are impermanent and based on balance-of-power tactics. Walt published The Origins of Alliances in 1987, during the Cold War, as the power of the Soviet Union was declining. While Walt's description of the motivation behind bandwagoning or balancing is comprehensive, his neorealist theory is flawed because he fails to address several factors in states' decisions.
Balancing:
Balancing:
- States align with others to oppose the most threatening external power
- Likelihood of balancing increases as threatening states aggregate power, proximity, offensive capabilities, or perceived aggressive intentions increase.
- Alliances do not last
- Strong states are more likely to balance
- Probability increases when allied support is more likely
- States align with the most threatening external power
- Likelihood of balancing increases as threatening states aggregate power, proximity, offensive capabilities, or perceived aggressive intentions increase.
- Alliances do not last
- Weak states are more likely to bandwagon
- Probability increases when allied support is unlikely. This leads to free-riding or buck-passing
- More likely when conflict is close to ending and the external threat is likely succeed
Walt does not address the possibility of common interests among states in creating alliances. He simplifies the formation of alliances to a self-interested material decision without acknowledging the influences of ideals or principles in states' decision to bandwagon or balance. Liberal democracies often balance opposing forces through alliances because they share common interests, without regard for the possibility of winning or losing for the sake of promoting liberal ideals in non-liberal states or systems. Walt also fails to examine the need for resources in his discussion of alliances. He does not address the impact a lack of resources or a dependency on the external threat on the decision to bandwagon with or balance against the threat. He does not fully describe the decision to create alliances and therefore places limits on the potential of alliances to create peace that do not necessarily exist.