The balance of power is one of the most fundamental concepts in the discipline of International Relations for understanding states action within the anarchic international system. In light of the extensive evolution following the Cold War, explicating the balance metaphor has acquired heightened importance for understanding the structure of the international system and comprehending states’ behavior. Accordingly, despite the abundance of existing research, further studies remain necessary to grasp the behavioral patterns of actors in the international system. In this regard, the realism paradigm appears to provide an appropriate framework for understanding this metaphor.This article poses the question of how the post–Cold War transformations of the international system can be understood and analyzed through recourse to the balance of power metaphor? it seems that the balance metaphor still has the ability to explane system transformations and states behavior.Therefore, the aim of this article is to understand and analyze the international system and states behavior through an elucidation of the balancing metaphor.So it has shaped a fundamental research using an interpretive approach and an interrogative strategy.The findings, indicate that the adaptability and flexibility of the balancing metaphor in response to changing conditions facilitate a deeper understanding and analysis of the international system following the material and ideational transformations of the post–Cold War era.In the contemporary period, with the growing salience of economic, technological, and network issues, balancing has come to be understood as a complex competitive game, in which states seek to construct diverse forms of dynamic and hybrid balances.