CEVAP:

There are two ideas on the balance of power as a system that deserve attention. First, the balance of power is a “fallback system” of international relations; in a multistate system, unless an alternate system is established for the management of power, it is natural for states to take care of their own security. Put differently, “the balance system is the natural international system in the sense that it does not have to be contrived. In the absence of a different system, states fall back on this one” (Claude, 1990: 35).

Secondly, “the contemporary balance of power system is by no means a mere duplicate of systems which have existed in the past”