(Military Alliances) Geo 2024

Unit 2

8 Characteristics of a Military Alliance

1. An arrangement between states 

2. An explicit agreement (hand shake/treaty)

3. Certain behavior for an anticipated future event 

4. The event that anticipated is uncertain

5. A promise 

6. An assistance 

7. A mutual promise 

8. Realm of national security 

Purpose of Military Alliances

• To be able to deter adversarial attacks, and increase the probability of victory in war

Do they promote aggression?

• Steps-to-war hypothesis maintains that alliances increase the possibility of conflict by increasing threat perception and subsequent aggression

Do they promote peace?

• The deterrence hypothesis holds that alliances deter armed conflicts by signalling the high cost, and high-risk, of a potential attack to their adversaries

Examples of Alliances

• NATO: 31 nation-state members

• ANZUS (security treaty): Australia, New Zealand and United States