ABSTRACT
Balancing behavior is important in world politics because it can deter conflict, at least according to its leading proponents and theorists. It is not just the presence of an international coalition ready to use diplomacy or violence that deters aggress - ion, but the possible emergence of states willing to resist aggression that must be taken into consideration by leaders contemplating the use of force to achieve their objectives. As Jack Levy notes, “potential hegemons anticipate that expansionist behavior would lead to the formation of a military coalition against them, and refrain from aggression for that reason.”1 Indeed, one security motivation behind the formation of the United Nations, and the North Atlantic Treaty, for that matter, was to create standing coalitions to demonstrate to potential troublemakers that significant forces will respond to threats to international peace or to the security of member states. Collective security organizations are not supposed just to respond to war, they also are supposed to deter aggression.
