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

An international alliance is an agreement made official through treaties between countries to collaborate politically, economically and militarily. These alliances can create safety and peace,making the world strategically balanced. As we can see in the current US-Israel and Iran conflict.Alliances play a big role in how events unfold and my standpoint argues that they create a delicate balance between safety and tension.

The US has had a close and strategic relationship with Israel since 1948 and made it an official ally in 1987. We see in the current conflict how allies have worsened the situation.In retaliation to the attacks from the US and Israel ,Iran has attacked surrounding countries like the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar ,and one very important thing to notice about this is that these countries have alliances with the US for decades and house US Naval bases. One more thing to notice about this too is that all of the countries I’ve mentioned form part of the United Nations. However the UN is not a military alliance. It is focused on maintaining international peace and security and plays a big role diplomatically so it can intervene and restore peace between these members.This shows that international cooperation can both create peace and tension. Due to this conflict Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz which is a major ship route for transporting oil.A large percent of the world’s oil is transported using this route and closing it causes disruption and increases in oil prices and this affects country’s economies around the world .This means this conflict will affect and involve more countries and this could lead to a bigger unwanted global war.

Alliances between countries creates support within the alliance and these alliances can minimize attacks and threats because if one country is attacked many other countries will counterattack as they have an obligation to. Counterattacks will then usually be stronger as alliances can combine their military power by sharing weapons and technology. This leads to faster response attacks. In the current conflict Israel is receiving aid from the US like advanced weapons and this makes Israel more powerful and capable to respond to any threats sent to them from Iran and its allies. This demonstrates how national security can be strengthened because alliances are able to share and combine their forces to make a safer living environment.

In conclusion international alliances can strengthen global security but could also create tensions. As alliances can deter aggressions and threats but also protect each other creating this very thin line between good and bad which is called strategic balance.