Abstract:
Alliances are a necessary function of the balance of power operating within a multiple-state system. Nations, competing with each other, have three choices in order to keep and improve their relative power positions. They can augment their own power, they can add to their own power the force of other nations, or they can withhold the power from the opponent. When they make the first choice, they start an armaments race. When they decide upon the second and third alternatives, they choose a policy of alliances.
