Balance of Power

Balance of Power

Balance of Power

Introduction

When discussing the security situation on the Korean peninsula, the discussion tends to focus first on North Korea, then North-South relations, North Korea-US relations and the superpower countries surrounding the peninsula, in that order. No one can really answer why discussions are made in this order or whether this type of approach is valid. Under today's global economic system, where mutual dependency is increasing, security is not only a matter of military safety but an economic issue. US credit rating agencies like S&P and Moody's consider the security situation of the Korean peninsula one of the crucial factors in evaluating sovereign ratings of Korea. This is why security on the peninsula is often used as a term to describe "economic security."

Portents Of Power Shift

The prosperity of the British Empire aroused envy from neighboring countries that lost the competition for hegemony and were damaged by its trade blocs' exclusive economic activities. In the 20th century, the British Empire was enmeshed in the 1914-18 "Great War," a byproduct of fierce competition between large empires. The US joined the fighting, later renamed World War I, a year before it ended. The victory of the Allied Powers brought huge benefits to the US, who had supplied a massive amount of goods and capital to the Allied Powers during the war (Michael, 2000).

When the war ended, the US exported its excess capital to Western Europe and Latin America. Germany used the capital to make postwar compensation payments, while the UK and France used the funds to repay war debts back to the US. Most of the capital the US exported to Latin America and Canada flowed into the UK and was then used to offset the UK's trade deficits with the US. The US provided part of its excess funds as low interest loans at home, aimed at invigorating domestic economic activities and stock and real estate investment. It paved the way for Pax Americana and portended the US economic boom in the 20th century.

Institutional Arrangements To Promote Global Management

The wartime losses overwhelmed the Central Power countries, and they pined for the glory of the past. The same mood could be found in the Soviet Union, which sought to preach the superiority of Marxism after the October Revolution (1917), and in Japan, who dreamed of establishing a "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere." Thanks to the Sterling Bloc, France, the UK and other countries of the British Commonwealth enjoyed three times the population and GDP of Germany and Italy. Counting their colonies, the former group had five times the population and two times the GDP of Germany and Italy. This gap magnified envy and distrust among countries, leading to another world war in 1941 (Waltz, 1979).

It is worth taking a close look at the actions taken right after the outburst of World War II by the US and UK leaders. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill had a secret meeting on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean ...