128 International Relations Theory of War
to potential hegemon in the system and might lead to the collapse of the
system.
In all three bipolar systems in 1816–2016, in all the minor wars in which
the polar powers constituting the system were involved, the bipolar sys-
tem dictated to the two superpowers to maintain the territorial status quo
preceding the wars. In the two bipolar systems that prevailed in Eurasia
in the 19th century until the beginning of the 20th century, 1816–1848 and
1871–1909, Great Britain had to maintain the status quo preceding its two
wars against Afghanistan. In the bipolar system that occurred in the sec-
ond half of the 20th century, 1946–1991, the two superpowers constituting
the system, the United States and the Soviet Union, had to preserve the
territorial status quo that existed before all the wars in which they were
involved—the wars of the United States against Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq
(1991), and the Soviet invasion of Hungary and war against Afghanistan.
The preservation of the territorial status quo preceding the war at the end
of the wars involving superpowers in bipolar systems stems from the way
in which bipolar systems affect the values of the two transhistorical order
principles that always work in the international system. The two other ter-
ritorial outcomes, territorial contraction or territorial expansion, are not a
possibility at the end of minor wars that are fought in bipolar systems. Ter-
ritorial contraction of superpowers in bipolar systems at the end of wars
that they fight may impair the homeostasis, inasmuch as a decrease in the
land power of the superpower that loses territory must lead to a decrease
in its total power. Following this, the equilibrium will be violated and the
homeostatic in danger. Territorial expansion of superpowers in bipolar
systems at the end of wars in which they will participate may impair the
homeostasis, for a rise in the land power of the superpower that acquires
new territory must lead to an increase in its total power. Following this,
the equilibrium will be violated and the homeostasis will be at risk.
The Bipolar System, 1946–1991The U.S.-Korea War (1950–1953)The outbreak of the Korean War led the bipolar system that prevailed at
the time to apply a series of systemic constraints to deny the United States
territorial expansion, maintain the status quo preceding the war, and
effectively restore it thereafter.^147 A number of significant events faithfully
represent this argument. The term limited war that was introduced follow-
ing the Korean War was coined because the United States abstained from
engaging in maximal military activity, failed to vanquish its adversary, and
negotiated an armistice agreement as a compromise. It is not clear whether
the communist concession stemmed from the insinuation that the United
States might use nuclear weapons or was because of the weakening of the