ABSTRACT
This book proposes the ‘balance of relationships’ (BoR) as a new international relations theory. Relations between actors exist in imagined resemblance of each other in terms of geo-cultures, languages, values, norms, customs, memories, institutions, networks, threats, commitments, and most pragmatically, interests. ‘Relationship’ is conceived here as a process of mutual constitution that reproduces imagined resemblance. Resemblance enables the making of a collective identity to constitute the self-identities of resembling members. This is unlike the premise of anarchy in the mainstream IR, which denies the relevance of resemblance. BoR theory differs from mainstream IR as a result of two key differences in its epistemological position. First, rather than accepting the conventional view that the international system is characterized by states driven by a self-help imperative, the theory seeks to explain why and how states as socially-interrelated actors inescapably pursue a strategy of self-restraint, in order to join a network of stable and long-term relationships. Second, owing to its focus on explicating bilateral relations, BoR theory bypasses rule-based governance. Accordingly, BoR involves the construction of an image of ideal resemblance between state actors, and underwrites the social cognitive obligation and psychological drive of states to strive for or maintain this ideal.BoR can ontologically equalize two parties and neutralize their power asymmetry.
