The enduring axioms of balance of power theory and their contemporary relevance / What do great powers balance against and when? / Great powers in the post-Cold War world: a power transition perspective / The political economy of balance of power theory / The war on terrorism and the balance of power: the paradoxes of American hegemony / The balance of power paradox / A world not in balance: war, politics, and weapons of mass destruction / Europe hedges its security bets / Revisiting balance of power theory in central Eurasia / The international system and regional balance in the Middle East / Bipolarity and balancing in East Asia / Robert S. Ross -- The south Asian security balance in a Western dominant world / Regime type and regional security in Latin America: toward a 'balance of identity' theory / Balance of power at the turn of the new century