Balanced and Unbalanced Networks in Warfare
The concept of balanced and unbalanced networks is an intriguing topic that was explored in class. This is because of its many applications in day to day interactions among people, but also the more complicated applications throughout history. I have decided to demonstrate how balanced and unbalanced networks have played out in several large wars and cultural conflicts.
In order to demonstrate one particular unbalanced network, namely one where all of the edges are negative, I found that the American Revolutionary War was a good example. Consider three opposing forces: The American Colonists, the British, and the French. None of the three had a particularly fond view of the other two during this time period. The British were definitely opposed to the Americans and the French, and the French were colonizing in the new land so they were really there for their own gain. The American Colonists also shared a hatred of Great Britain, and a dislike of the French. Therefore, this would correspond to a network with three nodes, and three edges all marked negative between the members. In an unbalanced network of this sort, it is expected that two of the nodes will “team-up” against the third. This is exactly what happened in this case: The American Colonists and the French teamed up against Great Britain, which eventually lead to American Colonist victory.
To demonstrate an example of a balanced network, I will discuss World War I. I will discuss the balanced network where all members like each other first. In this type of network, there should be no feuding, as everyone gets along. An example of this is the Allied Powers during World War I, where there were no conflicts among those that were in the Allied Powers. Another way a balanced network can be formed is if there are two negative edges and one positive edge. To do this, we can take a subset of the participants of World War I. One person must dislike two other people, and those two people must like each other. So in this case, we can take Germany to be the country that dislikes two other countries, America and Great Britain. America and Great Britain are friends, and they both mutually dislike Germany. This is balanced because there is no unpredictability in the network. Everyone has their clear boundaries.
Finally, in order to demonstrate another unbalanced network, namely the one where there are two positive edges and one negative edge, I will resort to speaking about current country relationships. The United States has a good relationship with both Turkey and Israel. This can be represented by a positive edge from the United States to Turkey, and the United States to Israel. However, as of late, Turkey and Israel have been feuding, this will be represented by a negative edge. While the outcome of this recent feud is unknown, it is clear that this network is unbalanced because the United States will either have to play peacemaker or pick a side. Who knows what will happen?
It is clear that throughout history, these networks have presented themselves in feuds and in major wars. Due to the nature of the world, it is an unfortunate reality that we will always be able to use these balanced and unbalanced networks to see things about our world. Perhaps one day the world will be a Utopian society where everyone likes each other – and then the network will always be balanced.