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Kenneth Waltz

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Kenneth Neal Waltz
Born1924
EraInternational relations theory
RegionWestern Philosophers
SchoolNeorealism
Main interests
International security, nuclear security, anarchy
Notable ideas
Structural realism, Defensive realism

Kenneth Neal Waltz (born 1924) is a member of the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University and one of the most prominent scholars of international relations alive today.[1] He is one of the founders of neorealism, or structural realism, in international relations theory.

Biography

Waltz is Emeritus Professor of Political Science at UC Berkeley and Adjunct Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University. He is also a past President of the American Political Science Association (1987–1988) and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Waltz, who is also a World War II veteran, received his B.A. majoring in Economics from Oberlin College before obtaining a Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University in 1954.

Levels of analysis

Waltz's initial contribution to the field of political science[citation needed] was his 1959 book, "Man, the State, and War", which classified theories of international relations into three categories, or levels of analysis. The first level explained international politics as being driven primarily by actions of individuals, or outcomes of psychological forces. The second level explained international politics as being driven by the domestic regimes of states, while the third level focused on the role of systemic factors, or the effect that international anarchy was exerting on state behavior. "Anarchy" in this context is meant not as a condition of chaos or disorder, but one in which there is no sovereign body that governs nation-states[citation needed].

Neorealism

Main article: Neorealism (international relations)

Waltz's key contribution to the realm of political science is in the creation of neorealism (or structural realism, as he calls it), a theory of International Relations which posits that states' actions can often be explained by the pressures exerted on them by international competition, which limits and constrains their choices. Neorealism thus aims to explain recurring patterns of state behavior, such as why the relations between Sparta and Athens resembled in important ways the relations between the US and the USSR.

Waltz argues that the world exists in a state of perpetual international anarchy. Waltz distinguishes the anarchy of the international environment from the order of the domestic one. In the domestic realm, all actors may appeal to, and be compelled by, a central authority - 'the state' or 'the government' - but in the international realm, no such source of order exists. The anarchy of international politics – its lack of a central enforcer – means that states must act in a way that ensures their security above all, or else risk falling behind. This is a fundamental fact of political life faced by democracies and dictatorships alike: except in rare cases, they cannot count on the good will of others to help them, so they must always be ready to fend for themselves.

Like most neorealists Waltz accepts that globalization is posing new challenges to states, but he does not believe states are being replaced, because no other non-state actor can equal the capabilities of the state. Waltz has suggested that globalization is a fad of the 1990s and if anything the role of the state has expanded its functions in response to global transformations.

Neorealism was Waltz's response to what he saw as the deficiencies of classical realism. Although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, neorealism and realism have a number of fundamental differences. The main distinction between the two theories is that classical realism puts human nature, or the urge to dominate, at the center of its explanation for war, while neorealism stakes no claim on human nature and argues instead that the pressures of anarchy shape outcomes regardless of human nature or domestic regimes.

Waltz's theory, as he explicitly makes clear in "Theory of International Politics", is not a theory of foreign policy and does not attempt to predict or explain specific state actions, such as the collapse of the Soviet Union. The theory explains only general principles of behavior that govern relations between states in an anarchic international system, rather than specific actions. These recurring principles of behavior include balancing of power (the theory was revised by Stephan Walt, modifying the "balance of power" concept to "balance of threat"), entering into individually sub-optimal arms races, and exercising restraint in proportion to relative power. In Theory of International Politics (1979:6) Waltz suggests that explanation rather than prediction is expected from a good social science theory, since social scientists cannot run controlled experiments that give the natural sciences so much predictive power.

Bibliography

  • Man, the State, and War. Columbia University Press. New York: 1959.
  • Foreign Policy and Democratic Politics: The American and British Experience. Little, Brown and Company. New York: 1967.
  • Theory of International Politics. McGraw Hill. New York: 1979.
  • The Use of Force: Military Power and International Politics. University Press of America. New York: 1983. (coauthored with Robert Art).
  • "Reflections on Theory of International Politics. A Response to My Critics" in: Keohane, Robert: Neorealism and Its Critics. 1986.
  • The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: A Debate Renewed. W. W. Norton & Company. New York: 1995.
  • Realism and International Politics. Routledge. 2008.

In Man, the State, and War, Waltz proposes a three-images view of looking at international relations behavior. The first image was the individual and human nature; the second image the nation-state, and the third image the international system.

In Theory of International Politics, Waltz elaborates many of the core principles of neorealist international relations theory, adopting a structural perspective that sets him apart from earlier (classical) realists like E.H. Carr and Hans Morgenthau, and later giving rise to the Neoclassical realist movement (Randall Schweller, Fareed Zakaria, William C. Wohlforth, Thomas J. Christensen, etc.) which tries to incorporate a structural component while emphasizing the state-society relationship that mitigates structural forces. (This book also popularized the term bandwagoning.)

In The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: A Debate Renewed, Waltz argues for the virtues of a world with more nuclear weapon states because of their power in nuclear deterrence. Sagan argued against the proliferation of nuclear weapons. See nuclear peace.

Awards

  • The Heinz Eulau Award for "Best Article" in the American Political Science Review in 1990 for Nuclear Myths and Political Realities.
  • The James Madison Award for "distinguished scholarly contributions to political science" from the American Political Science Association in 1999. [1]
  • International Studies Association, 2010 International Security Studies Section Distinguished Scholar.

Honorary Doctorates

University of Macedonia (Greece),Copenhagen University, Oberlin College, Nankai University, and Aberystwyth University.

See also

Classical realists

Neorealists

Neoclassical realists

Issues and theory

References

  1. ^ Susan Peterson and Michael J. Tierney with Daniel Maliniak (August 2005). Teaching and Research Practices, Views on the Discipline, and Policy Attitudes of International Relations Faculty at U.S. Colleges and Universities
  • "Contemporary mainstream approaches: neo-realism and neo-liberalism" by Steven L. Lamy, 2001.
  • "Leviathan" by Thomas Hobbes, 1651. See chapter 13.
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