Do international alliances always make the world safer, or can they sometimes lead to more tension?

THE BIG QUESTION

Do international alliances always make the world safer or can they sometimes lead to tension?

It is a bit of a double edged sword. While international alliances are made to prevent conflict through collective defense, they can unintentionally increase worldwide tension.

How NATO makes the world safer:

Deterrence:

Alliances like NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) create deterrence. Deterrence is the action of discouraging an action or event through firmly establishing doubt or fear of the consequences. Because of this, aggressors realize that when they are fighting a country, they are fighting an entire group of military soldiers. This makes them less likely to start a war, which keeps all countries safe.

Similarly to this, NATO uses collective defense to de-escalate a situation. Collective defense is a security arrangement where multiple states or countries come to agree that an attack on one member is an attack on all.

Post-Cold War (1990s–2014): Nuclear focus diminished; focus shifted to crisis management and peacekeeping.

How NATO can ignite tension:

The Security Dilemma:

When one group of nations forms an alliance for its own security, non-members may feel threatened or "encircled". This often results in those outside nations to build up their own militaries or form rival alliances, creating a circle of mistrust and an arms race.

World War I (Pre-1914): European countries, driven by fear and uncertainty, engaged in rapid, competitive military buildups and alliance forming. Actions intended to ensure safety were seen as hostile threats, creating a "spiral" toward conflict.

My conclusion:

While international alliances help keep nations safe, through collective defense, they can unintentionally increase worldwide tension through the security dilemma.

Information from Google AI.