Preview

Analysis Of Kenneth N. Waltz's Views On International Relations

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
900 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Analysis Of Kenneth N. Waltz's Views On International Relations
Kenneth N. Waltz is a structural realist who subscribes to “defensive realism”, which argues that states aim to amass as much power as possible because they want to be assured security in the international arena (Lamy and Masker, p.75). His perspective on international relations further explains that states do this through a “self-help system” where states, distrustful of others, conclude that they can only rely on themselves to defend against external threats. They act prioritizing national interests over global ones (Waltz 1986, p.101-102). This insecurity that underscores how states conduct themselves in international relations inadvertently provokes other states to react similarly, resulting in a security dilemma that is likely to breed …show more content…
I believe that his views can be expanded further to provide a more holistic overview of international relations. Firstly, multipolarity need not necessarily lead to war; it is possible for a balance of power and consequently, stability, to occur under it. For example, the Pax Britannica period of the 19th century saw to relative peace amongst the European states for decades (Goddard 2008/2009, p.10). Furthermore, even if the balance of power is upset, it can always be restored again due to the perpetual security dilemma, regardless of the world order. In a multipolar world, states might also justify their seemingly aggressive actions with legitimation strategies such as the rhetorical trap or the raising of ontological security. These strategies aim to capture the empathy of other states in order to ameliorate their antagonism and avoid war (Goddard 2008/2009, …show more content…
9). Inter-state wars or competition for power are hence not common or expected due to the hegemon’s dominance which deters other states from attempting to balance its power (Wohlforth 1999, p. 23); it is not rational for them to do so when considering the associated costs and risks of balancing, like the imposition of sanctions by the hegemon or negative international opinion. The absence of rivals with the ability and willingness to contest the superpower means that it will be able to assume hegemonic leadership of the international community. This depresses the possibility of conflict on a global scale and contributes to the preservation of world peace (Wohlforth 1999,
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Evaluate the need for superpowers to play a key role in trade and international decision making to maintain their status.
    • 485 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Evaluate the need for superpowers to play a key role in trade and international decision making to maintain their status.

    International decision making enables superpowers to make key decisions about the world economy, conflicts or environmental issues. This power is mainly held in the hands of inter-governmental organisations (IGO’s) some IGOs involve all nations, such as the U.N., whereas others are more exclusive such as the G8, or regional such as NATO. These IGO’s are important for superpowers to maintain their status as it allows them to focus global policy and decision making in their own interest. For example most IGO’s operate a veto voting system, where if a certain country with veto does not agree to the policy then the vote is not carried out. Many superpowers use this to their advantage, for example the EU and the USA tend to vote with each other, giving them the opportunity to block policies they do not agree with, therefore allowing them to force their own policies. This makes it difficult for smaller nations with less power to have a role in international decision making.…

    • 485 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    WK 5 Assignment
    • 2478 Words
    • 7 Pages

    WK 5 Assignment

    The International Relations theory that best fits the Gini-out-of-the-bottle approach for this report is the theory of realism. There are five different classes of realism but the two that stands out to me are classic and neorealism. Classic realism leans towards those that represent a pessimistic view and the fact that people are not often what they appear to be and they it would behoove a government not to be so trusting of others. Neorealism represents the struggle of someone that is greedy for more such as power.…

    • 2478 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Controversy Paper on United States Involvement in Global Affairs
    • 1373 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Controversy Paper on United States Involvement in Global Affairs

    A major debate that is being discussed both domestically and internationally is the involvement of the United States of America in international affairs. This debate includes the practicality of where the United States has intervened in foreign affairs, its right to intervene in the first place considering past mistakes and questionable leadership, and whether or not that foreign involvement is in the general public’s best interest. Obviously, the two sides of the debate refer to the ‘yes’ position, explained by Ivan Eland (as in yes, the United States should limit it’s global involvement) and also the ‘no’ position, backed by President Barack Obama (as in no, the United States should not limit it’s foreign involvement). Eland’s basis for his argument is that the United States has habitually overspent it’s treasure and overextended it’s military power to a point where we cannot keep pace economically and which could bring upon the demise of the American government as we know it. He also points out that continued foreign endeavors increases the risk of the United States being a target for terrorist attack. Obama’s vision is that The United States of America needs to re-establish its place as a world leader by maintaining an active foreign policy. Obama admits that mistakes have been made where international affairs are concerned, but that is a reason to fix those mistakes and step up as a suitable leader once more. Discussed later in the paper is my own point of view, which supports President Barack Obama and his plan for active engagement in foreign affairs, in a conservative and confidant manner.…

    • 1373 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Why We Will Soon Miss the Cold War - Summary
    • 436 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Why We Will Soon Miss the Cold War - Summary

    1. well- structured from his opinions to suggestions to deter war in the era of post- cold war. 2. Well criticized post –cold war idealism by underpinning examples in history. 3. Recap that Inequality of power between countries and Hypernationalism would be likely to break war in Europe continent. 4. Since it’s written in 1990, I think it truly well predicted what would be going on after the cold war, very logical and sound in his point of view.------------------------------------------------------Q. If uncertainty promotes…

    • 436 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Thomas Hobbes Government Was Best If It Was Autocratic, An All-Powerful Sovereign
    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Thomas Hobbes Government Was Best If It Was Autocratic, An All-Powerful Sovereign

    In the international realm, states will inevitably seek a balance of power. When a number of weaker states are threatened by a coalition of stronger states, they join forces, establish a formal alliance, and seek to persevere their own independence by checking the power of the opposing side. Balance of power seeks to ensure the equilibrium of power in which case no one state is in a position to dominate all the others. The aims of the Balance of Power Theory is to preserve the independence and survival of individual nation-states, preserve the state system, and prevent any one state from dominating the system. The means to achieve this is through vigilance, alliance, reciprocal communication, intervention, and…

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Peace During The Cold War
    • 1583 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Peace During The Cold War

    For the nature of this essay, peace is defined as a period without a conflict involving fatalities of more than 1,000 military members. The United States and the U.S.S.R. knew that a war could be started by the push of the button, 2 pounds of force. There are many reasons for why a war was not started during the 43-year period, one of which is known at the Security Dilemma. Part of the Offense-Defense Model, the Security Dilemma is a Neorealist tradition whereas one state increases its security it subsequently decreases the security of others. In relation to the Cold War, Gaddis writes that after the fall of Germany, “there was less of an incentive for these former allies… to keep their anxieties under control. Each crisis that arose fed the next one, and with the result that a divided Europe became a reality.” The Security Dilemma is just one of the possible outcomes of the Offense-Defense…

    • 1583 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    International Relations
    • 2065 Words
    • 9 Pages

    International Relations

    To begin with, security is heart of every foreign policy of any state but the question of what constitutes being secure, security breach or generally in what context security shall be viewed opens doors to a lot of interpretations. Realists view the concept of security from a traditional perspective, which meant military, war to mention a few (Lawson, 2003: 80). This is the underlying idea behind the security that the realists seem to be addressing. As they believe in an anarchic international system where the state is the actor which is power hungry, self-serving and only concerned with its survival, their view of security has everything to do with the respective state in the international community. In other words the state fights for its protection and survival in the international sphere through war or military prowess. But the application of this theory in a quiet and peaceful world becomes problematic. A good example is now that there is peace, how does one explain peace. Even though the realists explain the peace time as being an artificially construed and temporary thing, and war being natural way the international sphere, their argument does not hold much water especially when met with liberalist views on International relations. One must stress out that the realist theory was a very much accepted and may even still be accepted because…

    • 2065 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Global Primacy
    • 1574 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Global Primacy

    Perhaps America is overspending on its ‘noble’ protection and prevention discourse. Some preach that Obama must create a method of aligning ‘his foreign policy prescriptions with evolving global trends’ (Lindsay 2011). Without this, Obama may lead his state further from global leadership. As it stands, one of the main reasons America could find itself in a vulnerable position against terrorists, is if it fails to maintain position relations with other minor states who hold some international power. It has the capacity to either ‘play the game for itself alone’ or ‘for the system as a whole’ (Brooks Wohlforth…

    • 1574 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Six Actors on an International Stage
    • 1934 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Six Actors on an International Stage

    There are six actor types in international relations: state, nation-states, supranational organization, international organizations, non-government organizations, and multinational corporations. Each actor serves a purpose to varying degrees but two are especially significant in that one of the six actors is ideally the most prudent or important while the other is more obsolete and insignificant. In order to determine the least and greatest actors one has to go through the all the actors, furthermore a detailed description is necessary to determine the validity of an argument. The argument being, that states are the most important actor and supranational organizations are the least important because of their total level of usage.…

    • 1934 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Jan Aart Scholte - Globalization Chapter 4
    • 2377 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Jan Aart Scholte - Globalization Chapter 4

    Political realists assume that territorial sovereign states are the principal actors in world politics. Proponents of this approach further presume that states are inherently acquisitive and self-serving, making for inevitable competition as their insatiable appetites for power clash. To manage this unavoidable interstate conflict, some political realists have advocated the use of a balance of power, where any attempt by one state to achieve world dominance is countered by collective resistance from other states. Other political realists have suggested that a dominant state can bring stability to world order if this so-called ‘hegemon’ maintains international rules and institutions that both advance its own interests and at the same time contain conflicts between other states. In the vein of hegemonic stability theory, globalization can be explained as a way that the dominant state of the day – in the case of recent history the USA – has asserted its primacy and concurrently created an environment of controlled competition among states. On this account large-scale contemporary growth…

    • 2377 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Insomnia
    • 6166 Words
    • 25 Pages

    Insomnia

    BEYOND THE BUSH DOCTRINE: AMERICAN HEGEMONY AND WORLD ORDER MARTIN GRIFFITHS The scar does the work of the wound.1 This article elaborates the changing nature of American hegemony in international relations, and assesses the Bush Administration’s determination to change the basis of US hegemony in the context of its proclaimed ‘war on terror’. I argue that the Administration’s grand strategy is self-defeating, threatening the status of the United States as a benign hegemon without enhancing its security. However, on the assumption that the neo-conservative influence over American foreign policy will wane in the coming months and years, the United States can still take advantage of its unprecedented power to promote a more sustainable world order. The paper begins with an examination of American hegemony in international relations. I then discuss the manner in which the terms of that hegemony have been changed by the current Administration under the guise of the war on terror. The third section is a critical analysis of American grand strategy, and the article concludes with an assessment of the conditions under which the United States can sustain its dwindling hegemony in the years to come. United States Hegemony and the Cold War Hegemonia, in the original Greek sense, means ‘leadership’. In international relations, a hegemon is the ‘leader’ or ‘leading state’ of a group of states. The central idea behind hegemonic stability in international relations theory is that the world needs a single dominant state to create and enforce the rules (such as ‘free trade’) among the most important members of the system. To be a hegemon, a state must have the capability to enforce the rules of the system, the will to do so, and a commitment to a system that is perceived as mutually beneficial for the major states. In turn, capability rests upon three attributes; a large, growing economy, dominance in leading technological or…

    • 6166 Words
    • 25 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Using Two Other Theories to Back Up Your Assertions Discuss the Extent to Which Realism Remains Central to International Relations Today.
    • 773 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Using Two Other Theories to Back Up Your Assertions Discuss the Extent to Which Realism Remains Central to International Relations Today.

    The outlook that realism remains central to international relations today is based largely on the prospect that states are taking advantage of the anarchic setting constructed by the issue that there is no overriding world government that enforces a common code of rules for everyone to follow. This therefore means that actors in international politics are at liberty to act in any manner they believe is best for their own…

    • 773 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    POL114 Essay
    • 2371 Words
    • 7 Pages

    POL114 Essay

    The United States of America is a hegemonic power which has great influence in international politics due to its contributions to history. President Barrack Obama said in his speech at the United States Military Academy at West Point, “…America must always lead on the world stage. If we don’t, no one else will.” When it comes down to which country holds greater influence in the international system, America is known in being a hegemon which has influence in many international institutions. The United States of America took the lead in founding the United Nations and contributes the most money towards the UN’s spending, thus shapes the UN in favour of its interests. This concept of hegemony was analyzed by Gramsci, whom used Machiavelli’s view of power as a centaur, “half man and half beast”, to argue power is a mixture of coercion and consent which are tools for hegemonic states which is what realists agree with1. In this sense, the United States has been using such “tools” to seek national interest. Thus, by examining Obama’s speech through Realist, Liberal and Marxist/critical perspectives, this essay will argue that the perspective of realism best defines America’s position in the global order through its consecutive use of hard power.…

    • 2371 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Best Essays

    Realism and Instruments of Power
    • 2285 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Realism and Instruments of Power

    The international environment is very complex, due to the inclusion of various political actors and the interaction of these actors at different levels. Typically, threats emerge from competition between states over geopolitical and traditional issues. Recently, non-traditional threats have emerged that affect the national interests of various countries; one of these challenges that is quickly moving to the forefront of importance is that of energy security, and the related topic of environmental security. Political scientists and leaders try to distill the international environment down to basic theories, which can help determine appropriate courses of action in this landscape of change. Using the theory of realism, and responding with the Instruments of Power (IOP), the US can moderate the threat of energy and environmental security.…

    • 2285 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Best Essays
    Read More
  • Best Essays

    Decline Of Primacy
    • 1862 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Decline Of Primacy

    The United States of America has been a prime world-leading country since 1945, and the US has maintained its privileged position through military capability, political leadership, and economic influence. It has then established itself as a global primacy. The U.S. primacy brought crucial benefits, which other nation states are unlikely to attack or threaten the U.S. and American interests directly. In addition, the primacy has significantly contributed to a peaceful international environment. It gave the U.S. the ability to cooperate with other states in order to promote human rights and slow the spread of weapons worldwide (Mingst and Arreguin-Toft, 2011). During the Cold War, there were two superpowers…

    • 1862 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Best Essays
    Read More

Related Topics