Balans eller obalans? : Mearsheimers offensiva realism i samtidens multipolära maktordning

Sammanfattning: The thesis has focused on John J. Mearsheimers theory of offensive realism and applied it onto the contemporary relations between People´s Republic of China, Russian Federation, and the presence of United States in Europe and the Asian-Pacific region. The thesis concludes that the probability of war is moderate, due to the current balance of military power in each respective region. China is actively challenging the United States both militarily and politically in the international community, albeit without successful results. Russian hegemony in Europe is balanced and kept in check by the NATO alliance, which the United States is an integral part of. The Sino-Russian relations are marked by an overall respective tone between the two powerful Asian states. The thesis concludes through a mixed-method-design that the balance is currently maintained between the three states, but any deviation one way or another risk overthrow the world into an unbalanced state which is by far the deadliest, according to Mearsheimer's offensive realism.