Compare And Contrast Balancing With Deterrence

1). Compare and contrast balancing with deterrence – how are these means of responding to threats similar and different? Balance and deterrence are similar in some ways, however, I feel that they are mostly different. They are similar in that they both try to stop one state from taking over the world. However, deterrence could make the globe unipolar if nobody attacks one state because of that state issuing serious threats. This could make that state extremely powerful. Balance and deterrence are different in that balance contains states possibly allying with one another, along with the bandwagon theory. When a state uses deterrence, they are not allying with another state, more so they are threatening them. Nye & Welch
2). How would you
define collective security? Collective security is simply states combining efforts to strengthen their security, hence the name.
The main policy in collective security is that if states are allying with each other, and one state tries to be violently aggressive against those other states, those states can use violence against the aggressor. People who support collective security are extremely against war and violence and feel that you should only use violence if you are protecting yourself.

3). Why did the first attempt at collective security (the League of Nations) fail? The League of Nations failed because this system right after war wouldn’t work. After war, states want to keep their power and not let an international government take over. Another reason this didn’t work is because the creators (the US) didn’t join this. Wilson was trying to maintain peace along the world, and if his own state wouldn’t agree to it, this would create more violence and less peace. Although this did solve some issues at first, in the end states wouldn’t always ally and agree with each other.

4). What is containment and how is it similar to and different from
deterrence? The definition of containment in international relations is to stop an idea or government style from spreading either within your state or across the world. Containment is similar to deterrence in that it they are both ways to defend against other states who are trying to threaten the world. Containment is different to deterrence in that there are many different ways to use containment. As said in the book, you can use hard or soft power to contain something, you can be offensive or defensive and so on. In containment, you are trying to stop and idea or philosophy, however, in deterrence, you are trying to stop a state.

5). After reading about nuclear deterrence during the Cold War, do you think nuclear weapons make the world a more dangerous or more safe place? Explain your ideas. I think that nuclear weapons make the world a more violent place, however, it makes violence across the world have a reason behind it.
What I mean by this is that with nuclear weapons, states have a reason to use violence, not just for the sake of it. For example, after the Pearl Harbor attack, the Americans retaliated on the Japanese by using these nuclear weapons. They did this for a reason, in order to ensure that the Japanese wouldn’t attack them again, which ensures their security. If a state uses nuclear deterrence against another state, the other state could be incentivized to make a weapon as strong or stronger than a nuclear weapon which could lead to even more violence and
chaos. Deterrence Videos
6). What are the 4 C’s? The four C’s are communication, capability, credibility, and cost. These are necessary to perform a successful deterrence. Communication-be clear about what your threat is to the other states. Capability-a state needs to make sure that they are able to do what they are threatening to do. Credibility- the threat needs to be believable to the other state. Cost-the threat needs to have a significant cost to it. 7). Explain the different deterrence strategies associated with the “P(B)” and “C” variables in the deterrence equation. There are many different strategies that countries use for deterrence. The first one is self-destruction. Self-destruction occurs when the state being initially threatened destroys themselves in order to shrink all the benefits the threatening state would receive by attacking them. This strategy is rare and is almost never used. The second strategy that could be used is decreasing the probability of a benefit. The state that is being threatened could protect themselves by creating some form of defense on their border. In the example in the lecture, a state could build a wall around their border in order to decrease the probability of a benefit. In order to increase the costs of the action, the threatened state could show that they have weapons of mass destruction or weapons that can be extremely harmful to the attacking state. This strategy is called deterrence of punishment. This is probably the most common strategy used by a state who is being threatened. The final strategy is used to increase the probability of the cost. This strategy is called manipulation of risk. The state who is being threatened could counterattack by deploying all military weapons and supplies that they have to the state who is threatening. This increase the probability that the threatening state will have to suffer many costs.