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

I believe that international alliances do make the world safe, although they can also create tensions.

A recent study shows that alliances are more likely to create and maintain peaceful relationships, as smaller countries are less likely to be attacked if multiple countries have their back. Alliances like NATO often lead to shared military capacity and better communication. Smaller countries are safer because they are backed by bigger countries, like when Poland, Hungary and Cezch Republic joined NATO because they felt threatened by Russia.

However not all alliances are created equal. Political scientists often distinguish between them based on their goals: defensive pacts usually exist to keep things as they are. On the other hand, offensive pacts are created often to seize territory or flip a region's political alignment, for example the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union eventually led to even more violence.

This shows that alliances can also cause large conflicts and not always provide protection.

In 2026 alliances are no longer a simple split between East and West. For example, Turkey is a full member of NATO, while simultaneoulsy applying for a full membership with BRICS. This creates friction in NATO as Turkey uses the Black Sea to demand concessions from the West and East.

In conclusion, alliances are more likely to maintain peace although not all alliances are equal, and they are no longer a simple split between East and West.