Beginning of Essay
The most critical and obvious feature of international affairs is its state of anarchy. The international stage features many indepent actors each seeking their own best interest and security . With no sovereign body to govern over these actors it would seem th ....

Middle of Essay
.... the theory that all states act to preserve thier own self interest. If they are to do this they must prevent domination by any other state, which leads to the assumption that they must build up power and form alliances. Throughout history we can see the B.O.P. concept in action. The clearest example of the B.O.P. concept can be found in the Cold War. In the Cold War the two superpowers the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. held a stable world balance between them. Both states sought to deter domination by the other through a build up of arms and through the creation of strong alliance systems. Under the B.O.P. theory the logic of the Cold War stratagies ....