Balance

Balance, balanced or balancing may refer to:

Most common meanings

Music

Arts and entertainment

Balancing (international relations)

The concept of balancing derives from the balance of power theory, the most influential theory from the realist school of thought, which assumes that a formation of hegemony in a multistate system is unattainable since hegemony is perceived as a threat by other states, causing them to engage in balancing against a potential hegemon.

Balancing encompasses the actions that a particular state or group of states take in order to equalise the odds against more powerful states; that is to make it more difficult and hence less likely for powerful states to exert their military advantage over the weaker ones.

According to the balance of power theory, states, motivated primarily by their desire for survival and security, will develop and implement military capabilities and hard-power mechanisms in order to constrain the most powerful and rising state that can prove a potential threat. This idea illustrates the concept of internal balancing, which is opposed to external, under which states come together and form an alliance to balance and gain more leverage over a dominant or rising power. In recent years, soft-balancing has emerged as a new concept of illustrating how states balance powerful actors, which advocates the use of economic and diplomatic tools to constrain the most powerful state and inhibit their exertion of power and dominance.

Balancing (bridge)

In the game of contract bridge, balancing (or protection in Britain) refers to making a call other than Pass when passing would result in the opponents playing at a low level. Balancing is done by the player in the balancing position, i.e. to the right of the player making the last non-pass call. This is in contrast to bidding in the direct position, i.e. by the player to the left. Balancing is normally done with values unsuitable for direct action, but only after the opponents' bidding has demonstrated weakness or minimal strength. The aim of the tactic is to find a makeable or nearly-makeable contract for one's own side or to "push" opponents a level higher. It is more common in matchpoint games, where even a defeat and loss of 100 points is a relatively better result than the opponents' gain of 110-140 points.

Examples

After an opening bid is passed by responder

Balancing situation result from sequences like:

Note that a Pass in this balancing position would result in defense against a 1♥ contract. The player in the balancing position, knows that the opener has made a non-forcing bid and that the opener's partner has denied values required to respond. In such a situation, it is probable that the opponents have less than half of the high-card strength. It is important to be able to enter the bidding on hands in which one has about 9-11 high card points (HCP). Therefore, in balancing position, either a takeout double or 1NT overcall can be made on less values than in direct position.