44 International Relations Theory of War
Homeostasis in International Systems: Historical ExamplesA number of international systems provide us historical examples in
which the stability range in the system was maintained. The systems ranged
around an equilibrium point and did not lead to destruction of the homeo-
stasis. In the bipolar system of 1946–1991, the United States and the Soviet
Union fought a number of wars, and the stability range of the system was
preserved in all of them. These were the wars of the United States against
Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq (1991), and the Soviet invasion of Hungary and
war against Afghanistan. In the unipolar system of 1992–2016, the United
States took part in a few wars and maintained the stability range of the sys-
tem in all of them. These were the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan (2001) and
the U.S. invasion of Iraq (2003).
Certain consequences of actions may exceed the stability range of the
system or the homeostasis. In such a state, the system destabilizes and
becomes a system of another type. An unstable transition period may
occur between one system and another, but after the formation of a new
system, there will again be a balance between the various parts constitut-
ing it. In international politics, there are a number of examples of situa-
tions in which certain actions have led to the stability range being exceeded
followed by the formation of a new system. Prominent ones are the mul-
tipolar system of 1849–1870. The strengthening of Germany following the
Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871) led to the end of the preceding multipo-
lar system and the beginning of the bipolar system that was formed after it
in 1871–1909.^50 In the multipolar system of 1910–1945, the First World War
(1914–1918) led to the end of one multipolar system and the beginning of
a new multipolar system in its place.
In the multipolar system of 1910–1945, the defeat of Germany and Japan
in the Second World War (1939–1945), alongside the exhaustion of France
and Great Britain following that war, led to the end of the multipolar sys-
tem that preceded the war and the beginning of the bipolar system of
1946–1991.
Homeostasis and Feedback ModelsOne cannot understand the effect of homeostasis without discussing the
term feedback. Feedback means the return of part of the output to the sys-
tem as an input. This is a term that originates from information theory.
Using the feedback mechanism, the organism reacts to its environment
and vice versa—the organism’s environment reacts to it. Feedback allows
the organism to increase the odds of achieving a certain goal through
proving that a certain behavior model may or may not lead to the intended
goal; feedback may be negative or positive.^51
Negative or self-correcting feedback allows organisms to adapt them-
selves to their environment and maintain their stability through adjustment