Balance Of Power

Balance of Power is a computer strategy game of geopolitics during the Cold War, written by Chris Crawford and published in 1985. It was a revolutionary game, notable for engaging the player in nail-biting brinksmanship without using any graphics more complicated than an outline map of the world, and is regarded as a masterpiece of game design.

The goal of the game is simple; the player may choose to be either the President of the United States or the General Secretary of the Soviet Union, and must lead the chosen superpower for eight years, seeking to maximize "prestige" and avoiding a general war. Each turn is one year long; at the beginning of each year, the player is presented with a set of incidents and crises in various countries around the globe, and must choose a response to each one. Responses may range from no action, to diplomatic notes to the other superpower, to military maneuvers. Each response is then met with a counter-response, which may vary from backing down to escalation. The player then gets a chance to initiate actions, and deal with the opponent's responses. Backing down results in a loss of prestige, which will result in setbacks in unstable countries in the following year, but not backing down may result in escalation of the DefCon level, and at the higher levels, war can start by accident, which ends the game instantly.

The game was originally released by Mindscape for the Apple Macintosh, then ported to MS-DOS (1986) and Atari ST (1987). It was a sensation when it came out, but as a brutally realistic (some would say cynical) depiction of superpower maneuvering, it was perhaps admired more than played. A sequel Balance of Power: The 1990 Edition, updated to reflect world events, came out in 1989 for DOS and ST, but with the ending of the Cold War, interest in the subject declined, and there have no further followons or imitators.

In 1986, Crawford published a book also called Balance of Power, which goes into great depth on the game, including the background of the politics, the formulas used to calculate prestige and related parameters, and an account of its (lengthy) gestation.

Reference

Chris Crawford, Balance of Power (Microsoft Press, 1986)The phrase balance of power expresses parity or stability between competing forces. As a term in international law for a "just equilibrium" between the members of the family of nations it expresses the doctrine intended to prevent any one state from becoming sufficiently strong to enforce its will upon the rest.
The principle involved in this, as Hume pointed out in his Essay on the Balance of Power, is as old as history, and was perfectly familiar to the ancients both as political theorists and as practical statesmen. In its essence it is no more than a precept of commonsense born of experience and the instinct of self-preservation; for, as Polybius very clearly puts it (lib. i. cap. 83)
Nor is such a principle to be despised, nor should so great a power be allowed to any one as to make it impossible for you afterwards to dispute with him on equal terms concerning your manifest rights.

It was not, however, until the beginning of the 17th century, when the science of international law took shape at the hands of Grotius and his successors, that the theory of the balance of power was formulated as a fundamental principle of diplomacy. According to this the European states formed a sort of federal community, the fundamental condition of which was the preservation of the balance of power, i.e. such a disposition of things that no one state or potentate should be able absolutely to predominate and prescribe laws to the rest; and, since all were equally interested in this settlement, it was held to be the interest, the right and the duty of every power to interfere, even by force of arms, when any of the conditions of this settlement were infringed or assailed by any other member of the community.
This principle, once formulated, became an axiom of political science. Fénelon, in his Instructions, impressed the axiom on the young Louis, Duke of Burgundy; Frederick the Great in his Anti-Machiavel, proclaimed it to the world; Friedrich von Gentz re-stated it with admirable clearness in 1806 in his Fragments on the Balance of Power. It formed the basis of the coalitions against Louis XIV and Napoleon, and the occasion, or the excuse, for most of the wars which desolated Europe between the Peace of Westphalia (1648) and the Congress of Vienna (1814).
During the greater part of the 19th century the series of national upheavals which remodelled the map of Europe obscured the balance of power; yet it underlay all the efforts of diplomacy to stay or to direct the elemental forces let loose by the French Revolution, and with the restoration of comparative calm it once more emerged as the motive for the various political alliances of which the ostensible object was the preservation of peace.
An equilibrium between the various powers which form the family of nations is, in fact, - as Professor L. Oppenheim (Internal. Law, i. 73) justly points out - essential to the very existence of any international law. In the absence of any central authority, the only sanction behind the code of rules established by custom or defined in treaties, known as "international law", is the capacity of the powers to hold each other in check. If this system fails, nothing prevents any state sufficiently powerful from ignoring the law and acting solely according to its convenience and its interests.
Original text from 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica

Modern Usage: Balance Of Power

Commercial Usage: Balance Of Power

Domain	Title
Books	America Unrivaled: The Future of the Balance of Power (Cornell Studies in Security Affairs) (reference) Balance of Power (reference) Balance of Power (Star Trek the Next Generation, No 33) (reference) Balance of Power in Society (reference) The Balance of Power : Stability in International Systems (reference) (more book examples)

High Tech	Star Wars: X-Wing VS TIE Fighter with Balance of Power (reference) (more camera examples; more video game examples; more computer examples; more electronic examples; more software examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Image Slideshow: Balance Of Power

Historic Usage: Balance Of Power

Author	Date	Quotation
Winston S. Churchill	1946	For that reason the old doctrine of a balance of power is unsound. ("Iron Curtain" Speech)
John F. Kennedy	1961	Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah--to "undo the heavy burdens [and] let the oppressed go free." And if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion, let both sides join in creating a new endeavor, not a new balance of power, but a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved. (reference)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Non-Fiction Usage: Balance Of Power

Subject	Topic	Quote
Economic History	Ireland	As a result of the election, Labour held the balance of power between the two largest parties and initially chose to go into coalition with Fianna Fail. (references)
	Sweden	Its contributions during the Thirty Years War under Gustav II Adolf (Gustavus Adolphus) determined the political as well as the religious balance of power in Europe. (references)
	Germany	The fragile European balance of power broke down in 1914, and World War I and its aftermath, including the Treaty of Versailles, led to the collapse of the German empire. (references)
Political Economy	Australia	The minor parties, which include the Australian Democrats (nine Senators), the Greens (one Senator), One Nation Party (one Senator), and one "Independent" Senator, hold the balance of power in the Senate, but have no seats in the House of Representatives. (references)
Political Rights	Indonesia	A number of constitutional changes, MPR decrees, and legal changes have enhanced legislative branch authorities, raising some concerns that the balance of power may have shifted too far from the executive branch. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Speeches: Balance Of Power

Speaker	Term	Phrase(s)
John Adams	1797-1801	However we may consider ourselves, the maritime and commercial powers of the world will consider the United States of America as forming a weight in that balance of power in Europe which never can be forgotten or neglected.
James Monroe	1817-1825	The balance of power between them, into whichever scale it may turn in its various vibrations, can not affect us.
John F. Kennedy	1961-1963	In many areas of the world where the balance of power already rests with our adversaries, the forces of freedom are sharply divided.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Balance Of Power

Modern Translations: Balance Of Power

Language		Translations for "balance of power"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Chinese		力量均衡 , 均勢 . (various references)

Danish		magtforhold. (various references)

Dutch		machtsevenwicht, de machtsverhoudingen. (various references)

Finnish		valtiollinen tasapaino. (various references)

French		rapports de force, équilibre des forces (balance of forces). (various references)

German		gleichgewicht der kräfte. (various references)

Hungarian		politikai egyensúly, hatalmi egyensúly. (various references)

Italian		rapporti di forza. (various references)

Japanese Kanji		バベルの�" (balalaika, balance, balance sheet, balcony, ballade, ballast, balloon, Baltic, balun, barber's clippers, Barcelona, baritone, barium, barracks, barreled wine, barricade, barrier, Barriquand et Marre, bawm bawm, Brahman, bulk carrier, bulk line, bulk storage, bulky, bulky sweater, impediment removal, Tower of Babel, value, value analysis, value engineering, variable condensor, variant, variation, variety, variety show, variety store, varistor, vulcanized fiber, vulcanized rubber). (various references)

Japanese Katakana		バランスオブパワー . (various references)

Pig Latin		alancebay ofay owerpay.(various references)

Romanian		echilibru de forţe. (various references)

Spanish		proporción de fuerzas, equilibrio de fuerzas. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Anagrams: Balance Of Power

Alternative Orthography: Balance Of Power

Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)

42 61 6C 61 6E 63 65 4F 66 50 6F 77 65 72

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)

Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)

01000010 01100001 01101100 01100001 01101110 01100011 01100101 00100000 01001111 01100110 00100000 01010000 01101111 01110111 01100101 01110010

HTML Code (1990) (references)

&#66 &#97 &#108 &#97 &#110 &#99 &#101 &#32 &#79 &#102 &#32 &#80 &#111 &#119 &#101 &#114

ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)

0042 0061 006C 0061 006E 0063 0065 004F 0066 0050 006F 0077 0065 0072

Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)

Domain	Usage
Movie/TV Titles	Balance of Power (1996)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Expression	Frequency per Day
balance of power	56
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-a-b-c-e-e-f-l-n-o-o-p-r-w"
	-4 letters: coneflower.
	-5 letters: aeroplane, canoeable, rebalance.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

Balance Of Power

Definition: Balance Of Power

Balance Of Power

Noun

Synonym: Balance Of Power

Specialty Definition: Balance of Power

Crosswords: Balance Of Power

Modern Usage: Balance Of Power

Movie/TV Titles

Commercial Usage: Balance Of Power

Books

High Tech

Image Slideshow: Balance Of Power

Illustrations:Balance Of Power

Historic Usage: Balance Of Power

Winston S. Churchill

John F. Kennedy

Non-Fiction Usage: Balance Of Power

Speeches: Balance Of Power

John Adams

James Monroe

John F. Kennedy

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Balance Of Power

balance of power

Modern Translations: Balance Of Power

Chinese

Danish

Dutch

Finnish

French

German

Hungarian

Italian

Japanese Kanji

Japanese Katakana

Pig Latin

Romanian

Spanish

Anagrams: Balance Of Power

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Alternative Orthography: Balance Of Power

42 61 6C 61 6E 63 65 4F 66 50 6F 77 65 72

01000010 01100001 01101100 01100001 01101110 01100011 01100101 00100000 01001111 01100110 00100000 01010000 01101111 01110111 01100101 01110010

&#66 &#97 &#108 &#97 &#110 &#99 &#101 &#32 &#79 &#102 &#32 &#80 &#111 &#119 &#101 &#114

0042 0061 006C 0061 006E 0063 0065 004F 0066 0050 006F 0077 0065 0072

366778678069712497225081897184

INDEX

Illustrations:
Balance Of Power