Status-quo oriented states are those that are content with the current power configuration in the system and they do not aspire to change it. They are
merely concerned with their existing status within the system and want to make sure that it continues. Their foreign policies most of the time begin and end at their national borders. They do not have an intention to see a new system emerge so that they would be in a much better, prestigious, or powerful status. They are generally risk-averse states. Rather than act, they react to external developments.