The critical failure concerned the strategic balance of long-range missiles.

However, experts say possession of the islands has little effect on the strategic balance in this region.

This is wrong in its view of the strategic balance and dubious assumptions about nuclear stability.

Which, of course, gives added point to hitting them now, before they do get around to regaining their strategic balance.

In the last week the strategic balance in the Gulf has changed.

If they're building and we don't, the whole strategic balance changes.

Nuclear ambiguity is all it takes to change the strategic balance.

The voyage may not shift the strategic or political balance of the region.

He was convinced that the missiles would not affect the strategic balance at all.

An extra forty, he reasoned, would make little difference to the overall strategic balance.