Crisis of the Old Order - Liberal Leviathan: The Origins, Crisis, and Transformation of the American World Order - page 9

In an international order based on balance, order is maintained through an equilibrium of
power among the major states. No one state dominates or controls the system. Order emerges
from a power stalemate. States amass power, build alliances, and maneuver to prevent a
strong and threatening state from establishing dominance. The specific ways in which bal-
ance can be achieved can vary widely. 14 Through this ongoing balancing process, interna-
tional order is rendered stable. Order based on a balance of power was manifest in Europe
in the eighteenth century, and as a concert of powers in Europe after 1815; during the Cold
War, international order took the shape of a bipolar balance-of-power system. But in each of
these historical eras, order was established through the presence of an equilibrium of power
among major states. Leading states or coalitions of states formed counterbalancing poles that
checked and restrained each other.
In an order based on command, a powerful state organizes and enforces order. Order is
hierarchical and maintained through the dominance of the leading state. States are integrated
vertically in superordinate and subordinate positions. Command-based order can vary widely
in terms of the degree to which the hierarchical terms of order are enforced through coercion
or are also moderated by elements of autonomy, bargaining, and reciprocity. The great em-
pires of the ancient and modern world were hierarchical orders, manifesting various strategies
of rule and “repertories of imperial power.” 15 The British and American-led international or-
ders were also hierarchical—each, as we shall see, with a distinct mix of imperial and liberal
characteristics.
Finally, order based on consent is organized around agreed-upon rules and institutions that
allocate rights and limits on the exercise of power. Frameworks of rules and arrangements are
constructed that provide authoritative arrangements for international relations. State power is
not extinguished in a consent-based order, but it is circumscribed by agreed-upon rules and
institutions. Disparities of power between states may still matter in the structuring of consen-
sual, rule-based order, but the rules and institutions nonetheless reflect reciprocal and negoti-
ated agreements between states. The British and American-led liberal orders have been built
in critical respects around consent. The contemporary European Union is also a political or-
der of this sort.
In these various ways, states have grappled with the fundamental problem of creating or-
der in a world of sovereign and interdependent states. The resulting international orders have
differed in terms of the ways in which power, authority, and institutions have been arrayed. In
some cases, international order has been maintained in the most minimalist of terms, through
a decentralized balance of power. In other cases, a dominant state has created order through
coercive domination of weaker states and peoples. In still other instances, leading states have
sought to build ambitious systems of institutionalized political and economic cooperation. It
is in this general historical-theoretical context that we can situate and explore the character
and logic of liberal international order.