Man, the State, and War: A Theoretical Analysis
Categories: Politics & Social Sciences
Why do wars happen? In this 1959 study, political scientist Kenneth Waltz sorts the traditional answers into three "images": individual leaders and human nature, the internal makeup of states, and the anarchic system in which states exist. For each image, Waltz draws on philosophers to lay out the case, then weighs its strengths and limits. He concludes that the lack of any higher authority over states is what permits war, while the first two shape each state's policies. The framework became a fixture of international relations.
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- Fareed Zakaria: “Kenneth Waltz wrote books about international relations called Man, the State, and War and Theory of International Relations, which I both read at least three times.”