Kenneth Neal Waltz

What are the causes of war? Waltz probes the ideas that thinkers throughout the history of Western civilisation - including St. Augustine, Hobbes, Kant, & Spinoza - have offered to explain the reasons for men & related prescriptions for peace.

A Theoretical Analysis

Man, the State, and War

Forfatterens mål med denne bog er: 1) Analyse af de gældende teorier for international politik og hvad der heri er lagt størst vægt på. 2) Konstruktion af en teori for international politik som kan kan råde bod på de mangler, der er i de nu gældende. 3) Afprøvning af den rekonstruerede teori på faktiske hændelsesforløb.

Theory of International Politics

Realism and International Politics brings together the collected essays of Kenneth N. Waltz, one of the most important and influential thinkers of international relations in the second half of the twentieth century. His books Man, the State and War and Theory of International Politics are classics of international relations theory and gave birth to the school of thought known as neo-realism or structural realism, out of which many of the current crop of realist scholars and thinkers has emerged. Waltz frames these seminal pieces in his theoretical development by explaining the context in which they were written and, building on the broader aims of these theories, explains the elusive nature of power balancing in today's international system. It is an essential volume for both students and scholars.

Realism and International Politics

More May be Better

The Spread of Nuclear Weapons

Robert J. Art

Military Power and International Politics

The Use of Force

Scott Douglas Sagan

Two scholars of international politcs debate the issue of nuclear proliferation beyond the superpowers, presenting arguments for "more will be better" and "more will be worse"

A Debate

"From Theory of International Politics . . . "National politics is the realm of authority, of administration, and of law. International politics is the realm of power, of struggle, and of accommodation. . . . States, like people, are insecure in proportion to the extent of their freedom. If freedom is wanted, insecurity must be accepted. Organizations that establish relations of authority and control may increase security as they decrease freedom. If might does not make right, whether among people or states, then some institution or agency has intervened to lift them out of nature's realm. The more influential the agency, the stronger the desire to control it becomes. In contrast, units in an anarchic order act for their own sakes and not for the sake of preserving an organization and furthering their fortunes within it. Force is used for one's own interest. In the absence of organization, people or states are free to leave one another alone. Even when they do not do so, they are better able, in the absence of the politics of the organization, to concentrate on the politics of the problem and to aim for a minimum agreement that will permit their separate existence rather than a maximum agreement for the sake of maintaining unity. If might decides, then bloody struggles over right can more easily be avoided." -- Publisher.

In this landmark work of international relations theory, first published in 1959, the eminent realist scholar Kenneth N. Waltz offers a foundational analysis of the nature of conflict between states.

Kenneth Neal Waltz

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