The Balance of Power as Worldview: Still viable?

[japanpimp]

First of all, I would like to slowly strangle Wildor for introducing me to this topic (joking). It is the first time I have herd of Wilsonianism and Balance Of Power/Realpolitik and it took me a while to read up on it. It is very complex topic much like Hegemony. So thank you Wildor for introducing this complex topic to me which required me to do a couple hours of reading just to learn more about it. But very interesting stuff.

Second of all, I too believe that humans are inheriently selfish and that our natural state is not peaceful or harmonious. I too believe that conflict is the natural state of humankind and that humankind needs to be "channeled" or "guided" on national and internation levels. Heck, we need to be guided on many levels.

To illustrate, think of Balance Of Power/Realpolitik as a discussion moderator. They need to "guide" and "channel" the discussion. Debate groups, discussion groups, internet forums, business meetings, etc... often have moderators to help guide the group. Have you ever been in a college class or business meeting without a moderator? The discussion often times takes wild turns and arguments often insue. Unmoderated discussion/debate groups illustrate the natural state of humankind. Not harmonious at all.

Now, to answer your question. Basically you asking if Balance of Power will continue to be a viable ideology as the world progresses. Will "moderating" humankind on a national and international level become more difficult as we (countries) become increasingly interconnected politically, culturally and economically? No. Each country/nation will always have it's own "space" and others will always have sufficient time to react and adapt. Why? Because the time required to react and adapt will always more or less match the time required to push initiatives. Meaning, both the initiator and the reactor can move at the same speed. It's not like one nation/country is 200 years behind the others in technology and communication which provide ability to push initiatives quickly. So it's not like one fighter is extremely fast and the other is extremely slow. They can both move at the same speed. As long as nations can react just as fast as other nations initiate, and the "moderators" of nations can also react just as fast as the nations play "tug of war", then Balance of Power will be viable.

Lastly, after writing this my brain feels funny...