Introduction of the study paper

The study of International Relations has several aims, but its most important theoretical contribution is probably the identification of the so-called “regularities” occurring in the external realm. One such phenomenon is the tendency of alliances to dissolve after the defeat of the common enemy they were formed against. The frequency of this phenomenon has been attributed to the constraints that states encounter in cooperating within an anarchical system like the international one, especially in the absence of an immediate – and shared – threat to their survival.