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Many weakened/declining powers and small pushovers survived amid neighboring powers, many didn't. It seems the philosophy of maintaining/creating a counterbalance/buffer state or the lack thereof shaped the geopolitical realities more than the other way around, but I'm not sure about it.

Some thought experiments may help:

1) X, Y, & Z partitioned and absorbed A

If X, Y, & Z shared the philosophy of maintaining counterbalance/buffer state, would A have survived (partially)?
e.g., X:Russia, Y:prussia, Z:Austria, A:poland-Lithuania

2) B survived amid X, Y, & Z

If none of X, Y, & Z bought into the philosophy of maintaining counterbalance/buffer state, would they have partitioned and absorbed B?
e.g., X:British Empire, Y:French Empire, Z:German Empire, B:Low Countries
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