the worst it courts is great power disagreement. To date, such
disagreements have resulted only in the immobilization of policies. Differences over Bosnia, for example, meant that United States preferences were not acted
upon until European preferences had been demonstrated to b bankrupt.
Differences between the French and the Americans over policies in central Africa resulted in the former's withdrawal. Suppose, however : that the gap between the United States and other claimants to great power status narrows, as it eventually must, and suppose that in their efforts to secure domestic support for interventions, governments and their advisors are tempted to make their case in terms of national interests (how else are they to persuade their electorates to pay the necessary price in blood and treasure.)Either development might make it harder for great powers to resolve
their differences over collective intervention by suspending the their policies or by doing nothing.