Polarity in IR - Bi-Polarity (1949–1991), Uni-polarity (1991 — 2001), Multi — polarity (2001- present)

For much of the Cold War, the planet's fate rested on a simple calculation: two superpowers, each terrified of the other's missiles, would rather freeze each other out than fight directly. Never let anyone get so strong that no one can check them — that idea is older than the word 'polarity', and it explains far more of the news than the newer term does on its own.

In two minutes

Balance of power is the deliberate practice of preventing any single state, or bloc, from becoming so dominant that it threatens the rest, using techniques as old as diplomacy itself; polarity is simply the shape that mechanism produces at a given time — a world of two poles, one pole, or several.

The rest of this chapter

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