Abstract
The triangle of the United States, the Soviet Union, and China, though likely to represent only a stage in a transition from the duel of the original two super powers to a complex system of five or more powers, may be the dominant relationship of the seventies. Relations among the three powers will probably be a mixture of conflict and cooperation, though the mixture may not be the same on each side of the triangle. Stabilizing forces are at work in a great-power triad, but there are also sources of instability. A coalition of two powers against the third seems a distinct possibility.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.