ABSTRACT
The conduct of external relations as a part of a strategic triangle is a frequent, not a rare occurrence in international history and politics. What are strategic triangles? Why are they formed? What do they do? Are states the sole type of member of a triangle or can non-state organizations participate in its activities? A triangular (or a multipolar) relationship between countries is strategic
when polarities are deeply entrenched and the issues in conflict are either settled by war – as in the case of Nazi Germany versus the US/UK and USSR triangle during the Second World War; or there is a prolonged confrontation that involves military preparations and military fights, ideological and status disputes and diplomatic controversies, as in the case of relationships between China, India and Pakistan. In the former case, the shelf life of the triangle was short, ending in victory for the Allies and their military and diplomatic interests and their opposition to Nazi values; this triangle was strategic because it had a strategic aim to defeat the rise of Nazism and the threat it posed to the West and Soviet Russia interests, and it was strategic because it produced a massive restructuring of the domestic and external orientation of Germany and Japan following the end of the campaigns in Europe and Asia. In the latter case an endgame is not in sight, the contention among the three countries is prolonged and dangerous, it has an escalatory potential but the division of economic and military power among the three countries precludes dominance by one or the other side. In the former instance, a triangle was formed to deal with the imminent
danger of Nazi aggression and it was addressed by a war strategy that had an endgame. In the latter instance the triangle was formed because the diplomatic and military aims of the three countries that are involved in the Himalayan conflict zone (that includes Kashmir, Afghanistan, the SinoIndian border, 4000 km long which is the longest contested border in the world, and Himalayan kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan and the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh which China calls ‘Southern Tibet’), and the fourthparty Tibetans in Tibet and Tibetans in India (Chinese and Indian Tibetans who are a separate but related entity) have significant differences.
