Waltz, Mearsheimer and

Walt
More on Realism
 Waltz: The Anarchic Structure of
World Politics
 Political Structures
 International politics as distinct from economic, social
and other domains.
 “A system is composed of a structure of interacting
units” (Art & Jervis, 29).
 “How the units stand in relation to one another, the
way they are arranged or positioned, is not a
property of the units. The arrangement is a property
of the system” (30).
 “Structure defines the arrangement, or the ordering,
of the parts of the system” (30).
 Waltz: The Anarchic Structure of
World Politics
1. Ordering Principles
 “Structure is an organizational concept”
(32).
 “The problem is this: how to conceive of an
order without an orderer and of
organizational effects where formal
organization is lacking” (32).
 Waltz: The Anarchic Structure of
World Politics
1. Ordering Principles (cont’d)
 International structures=primary political units of
the era (e.g., city states, empires, states).
 Assumptions: state seek to survive
 “Beyond the survival motive, the aims of state may
be endlessly varied; they may range from the
ambition to conquer the world to the desire merely
to be left alone” (34).
 “To say ‘the structure selects’ means simply that
those who conform to accepted and successful
practices more often rise to the top and are liklier to
stay there” (34).
Waltz: The Anarchic Structure of
World Politics
2. The Character of the Units
 Waltz assumes the basic “sameness” of the
system’s units, i.e., states.
 He notes that states are not the only
international actors, but notes that they are the
primary ones.
 “Just as economists define markets in terms of
firms, so I define international-political structures
in terms of states” (36).
 “States are the units whose interactions form the
structure of the internatioanl-political system”
(36).
Waltz: The Anarchic Structure of
World Politics
2. The Character of the Units (cont’d)
 On sovereignty
 “To say that states are sovereign is not to say that they
can do what they want. Sovereign states may be
hardpressed all around, constrained to act in ways they
would like to avoid, and able to do hardly anything just
as they would like to” (36).
 “To say a state is sovereign means it decides for itself
how it will cope with its internal and external problems,
including whether or not to seek assistance from others
and in doing so to limit its freedom by making
commitments to them” (36).
 Waltz: The Anarchic Structure of
World Politics
3. The Distribution of Capabilities
 “The units of a an anarchic system are functionally
undifferentiated” (37).
 They are distinguished, therefore, by their
capabilities in terms of acting in the system.
 “In defining international-political structures, we
take states with whatever traditions, habits,
objectives, desires, and forms of government they
may have. We do not ask whether states are
revolutionary or legitimate, authoritarian or
democratic, ideological or pragmatic. We abstract
from every attribute of states except their
capabilties” (38).
 Waltz: The Anarchic Structure of
World Politics
4. Violence at Home and Abroad
 He notes that internal violence (within states)
happens with more frequency than system
violence. Why?
 “A government has no monopoly on the use of
force, as is all too evident. An effective
government has a monopoly on the legitimate
use of force, and legitimate here means that
public agents are organized to prevent and to
counter the private use of force. Citizens need
not prepare to defend themselves. Public
agencies do that. A national system is not one of
self-help. The international system is” (40).
 Waltz: The Anarchic Structure of
World Politics
5. Interdependence and Integration
 “When faced with the possibility of cooperation
for mutual gain, states that feel insecure must
ask now the gain will be divided” (41).
 “States do not willingly place themselves in
situations of dependence. In a self-help system,
consideration of security subordinate economic
gain to political interest…” (42).
 Waltz: The Anarchic Structure of
World Politics
6. Structure and Strategies
 “World-shaking problems cry for global
solutions, but there is no global agency to
problem them” (44).
 “Great tasks can be accomplished only by
agents of great capability” (44).
 Waltz: The Anarchic Structure of
World Politics
7. The Virtues of Anarchy
 “The constant possibility that force will be
used serves as an incentive for the
settlement of disputes. One who knows that
pressing too hard may lead to war has
strong reason to consider whether possible
gains are worth the risks entailed” (47).
 Note: the capability to use force does not
mean its constant deployment.
 Waltz: The Anarchic Structure of
World Politics
8. Anarchy and Hierarchy
 What does he mean by the two?
 What happens if some hierarchy is imposed
on anarchy? Does that do away with
anarchy?
 Mearsheimer: Anarchy and the
Struggle for Power
 Basic Assumptions
1. International system is anarchic
2. Great powers inherently possess some offensive
military capability.
3. States are uncertain about other states’
intentions.
4. Survival is the primary goal of great powers.
5. Great Powers are rational actors
 Mearsheimer: Anarchy and the
Struggle for Power
 State Behavior
 Great powers fear one another
 War could be just around the corner
 States aim to guarantee their own survival
 States therefore are constantly concerned
with the distribution of power in the system
 How much power is enough to survive now?
 What about down the road?
 Mearsheimer: Anarchy and the
Struggle for Power
 Calculated Aggression
 Great powers are not mindless aggressors.
 Application of force is calculated
 States cannot be sure of their allies
 Hegemony’ Limit
 Hegemon defined: “No other state has the
military wherewithal to put up a serious fight
against it” (56).
 Global v. Regional hegemons.
Mearsheimer: Anarchy and the
Struggle for Power
 Power and Fear
 “How much states fear each other matters greatly,
because the amount of fear between them largely
determines the severity of their security
competition, as well as the probability that they
will fight a war” (56).
 Mearsheimer: Anarchy and the
Struggle for Power
 The Hierarchy of State Goals
 “Survival is the number on goal of great powers” (57).
 Non-security goals can be pursued, so long as they do

not conflict with balances of power logics.

 Cooperation Amongst States
 “Any two states contemplating cooperation must
consider how profits or gains will be distributed between
them” (59).
 “Concerns about cheating also hinder cooperation” (59).

 “…cooperation takes place in a world that is competitive

to its core—one where states have powerful incentives

to take advantage of other states” (60).
 Walt: Alliance: Balancing and
Bandwagoning
 Balancing v. Bandwagoning
 What’s what and why?
 What are the theoretical and policy
implications?
 “In a balancing world, policies that convey
restraint and benevolence are best” (98).
 “A bandwagoning world, by contrast, is much
more competitive” (98).
 Walt cont’d
 Weak States v. Strong States
 Which behavior (balancing or bandwagoning)
is more likely?
 Role of proximity?
 Note hypotheses on 101-102