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PSIR Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer

Why is the ‘polarity of power’ thesis less relevant and meaningful in the present architecture of ‘balance of power’?

  • UPSC 2012
  • 12 marks
  • Key Concepts in International Relations

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The polarity thesis, systematised by Kenneth N. Waltz in Theory of International Politics (1979), holds that the number of great powers is the key structural variable explaining alignment, balancing and war. It assumes that power is held by unitary states and can be added up into one ranking. Each assumption has weakened, so a count…

You are reading the opening of the model answer. The full answer is part of the PSIR Optional PYQ Solutions.

What the full answer covers

  • Power no longer adds up to one number
  • Balancing has changed form
  • Diffusion beyond states
  • The counter-argument
  • Conclusion
PSIR Optional PYQ Solutions

PSIR Optional PYQ Solutions

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