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68-495: Waltz was one of the original founders of neorealism , or structural realism, in international relations theory and later became associated with the school of defensive neorealism . Waltz's theories have been extensively debated within the field of international relations. His 1979 book Theory of International Politics is the most assigned book in International Relations graduate training at U.S. universities. Waltz

136-479: A research assistant from 1952 to 1954 and a research associate from 1954. Later saying that he and his wife had been unsettled by the prospect of raising small children in New York City, Waltz left Columbia for Swarthmore College , where he was an assistant professor and then a professor from 1957 to 1966. He then moved on to Brandeis University for a stint from 1966 to 1971, the last four years of which he held

204-421: A ' balance of power ', which shapes international relations. It also gives rise to the ' security dilemma ' that all nations face. There are two ways in which states balance power: internal balancing and external balancing. Internal balancing occurs as states grow their own capabilities by increasing economic growth and/or increasing military spending. External balancing occurs as states enter into alliances to check

272-460: A desire to expand US influence. While neorealists agree that the structure of the international relations is the primary impetus in seeking security, there is disagreement among neorealist scholars as to whether states merely aim to survive or whether states want to maximize their relative power. The former represents the ideas of Kenneth Waltz , while the latter represents the ideas of John Mearsheimer and offensive realism. Other debates include

340-526: A number of other scholars have sought to explain why states expand when opportunities to do so arise. For instance, Randall Schweller refers to states' revisionist agendas to account for their aggressive military action. Eric Labs investigates the expansion of war aims during wartime as an example of offensive behavior. Fareed Zakaria analyzes the history of US foreign relations from 1865 to 1914 and asserts that foreign interventions during this period were not motivated by worries about external threats but by

408-562: A partnership with Durham University Business School in England to deliver a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degree awarded by Durham University since 2006, with the first students starting in 2007. As of 2024, Fudan remains the main location, but some elements of the course are also delivered at Durham and in San Francisco , USA. Fudan, Korea University Business School in Korea, and

476-433: A poor job explaining the foreign policy behavior of major powers, Charles Glaser wrote in 2003, "this is neither surprising nor a serious problem, because scholars who use a realist lens to understand international politics can, and have, without inconsistency or contradiction also employed other theories to understand issues that fall outside realism's central focus." Fudan University Fudan University ( FDU )

544-751: A research associate with the Department of War Studies, King's College London . Waltz taught at Peking University for two months in 1982, and he later taught at Fudan University as well. He lectured at a number of institutions in the US, including the Air Force Academy , the National War College , the Army War College , and the Naval War College . Similarly, he lectured at many other institutions around

612-621: A school of thought called the English School merges neo-realist tradition with the constructivist technique of analyzing social norms to provide an increasing scope of analysis for international relations. Neorealism has been criticized from various directions. Other major paradigms of international relations scholarship, such as liberal and constructivist approaches have criticized neorealist scholarship in terms of theory and empirics. Within realism, classical realists and neoclassical realists have also challenged some aspects of neorealism. Among

680-413: A state is invaded and calls " 9-1-1 ," it cannot be sure that anyone will answer. Similarly, when two citizens have a dispute, they can appeal to the courts to render a verdict and, more importantly, the law enforcement agencies to enforce the court's ruling. However, there is no body above nation-states that can establish rules or laws for all the states, decide how they apply in specific cases, and compel

748-525: A theory of international relations that emphasizes the role of power politics in international relations, sees competition and conflict as enduring features and sees limited potential for cooperation. The anarchic state of the international system means that states cannot be certain of other states' intentions and their security, thus prompting them to engage in power politics. It was first outlined by Kenneth Waltz in his 1979 book Theory of International Politics . Alongside neoliberalism , neorealism

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816-442: Is decentralized , meaning there is no formal central authority ; every sovereign state is formally equal in this system. These states act according to the logic of egoism , meaning states seek their own interest and will not subordinate their interest to the interests of other states. States are assumed at a minimum to want to ensure their own survival as this is a prerequisite to pursue other goals. This driving force of survival

884-763: Is a public university in Shanghai , China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education and is co-funded with the Shanghai Municipal Government. The university is part of Project 211 , Project 985 , and the Double First-Class Construction . The university was originally founded by the Chinese Jesuit priest Ma Xiangbo in 1905. It is a member of the C9 League . The school's predecessor

952-415: 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 and so they must always be ready to fend for themselves. Waltz's usage of the term "anarchy" led to a fundamental discursive transformation in international relations, as scholars wrestled with Waltz's ideas. A 2015 study by Jack Donnelly found that

1020-625: Is an ideological departure from Hans Morgenthau 's writing on classical realism . Classical realism originally explained the machinations of international politics as being based on human nature and therefore subject to the ego and emotion of world leaders. Neorealist thinkers instead propose that structural constraints—not strategy, egoism , or motivation—will determine behavior in international relations. John Mearsheimer made significant distinctions between his version of offensive neorealism and Morgenthau in his book titled The Tragedy of Great Power Politics . Structural realism holds that

1088-433: Is basically consistent with classical realism , which then dominated the international relations discipline, but Waltz would contest it more fully in his next book, Theory of International Politics . Theories of war that fall under the rubric of Waltz's second image contended that wars are caused by the domestic makeup of states. A prime example that Waltz referred to is Lenin 's theory of imperialism , which posits that

1156-527: Is called the security dilemma . States are deemed similar in terms of needs but not in capabilities for achieving them. The positional placement of states in terms of abilities determines the distribution of capabilities. The structural distribution of capabilities then limits cooperation among states through fears of relative gains made by other states, and the possibility of dependence on other states. The desire and relative abilities of each state to maximize relative power constrain each other, resulting in

1224-631: Is expected from a good social science theory since social scientists cannot run the controlled experiments that give the natural sciences so much predictive power. As a teacher, Waltz trained numerous prominent international relations scholars, including Stephen Walt , Barry Posen , Stephen Van Evera , Bob Powell, Avery Goldstein , Christopher Layne , Benny Miller, Karen Adams, Shibley Telhami , James Fearon , William Rose, Robert Gallucci , and Andrew Hanami. He influenced Robert Jervis and Robert Art. Columbia University colleague Robert Jervis has said of Waltz, "Almost everything he has written challenges

1292-528: Is one of the two most influential contemporary approaches to international relations; the two perspectives dominated international relations theory from the 1960s to the 1990s. Neorealism emerged from the North American discipline of political science , and reformulates the classical realist tradition of E. H. Carr , Hans Morgenthau , George Kennan , and Reinhold Niebuhr . Neorealism is subdivided into defensive and offensive neorealism . Neorealism

1360-534: Is only internal balancing in a bipolar system, rather than external balancing, there is less opportunity for miscalculations and therefore less chance of great power war. That is a simplification and a theoretical ideal. Neorealists argue that processes of emulation and competition lead states to behave in the aforementioned ways. Emulation leads states to adopt the behaviors of successful states (for example, those victorious in war), whereas competition leads states to vigilantly ensure their security and survival through

1428-483: Is the primary factor influencing their behavior and in turn ensures states develop offensive military capabilities for foreign interventionism and as a means to increase their relative power. Because states can never be certain of other states' future intentions, there is a lack of trust between states which requires them to be on guard against relative losses of power which could enable other states to threaten their survival. This lack of trust, based on uncertainty,

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1496-715: The Adlai E. Stevenson Professor of International Politics chair. In 1971, Waltz joined University of California, Berkeley , where he was appointed the Ford Professor of Political Science. Meanwhile, Waltz held a number of additional research positions. He was affiliated with the Institute of War and Peace Studies until 1964. He was a fellow of Columbia University in Political Theory and International Relations from 1959 to 1960 in London. He

1564-723: The American Political Science Association in 1966 to 1967 and then as its president in 1987 to 1988. He was President of the New England Section of the International Studies Association in 1966 to 1967. He was a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and served stints on the boards of editors of several scholarly journals. He has described Hans Morgenthau as a strong influence on his work. Waltz's initial contribution to

1632-452: The Chile of Salvador Allende are not considered to be "democracies of the right kind" or the conflicts do not qualify as wars according to these theorists. Furthermore, they claim several wars between democratic states have been averted only by causes other than ones covered by democratic peace theory . Advocates of democratic peace theory see the spreading of democracy as helping to mitigate

1700-695: The National University of Singapore in Singapore have collaborated on the S3 Asia MBA since 2008, with students spending six months at each of the institutions. Fudan students receive a dual degree from Fudan and one of the other universities in the collaboration. Regarding research output in natural science and life science, the Nature Index Research Leaders 2024 ranked Fudan the No.9 university in

1768-414: The international system , it is likely to continue in the future. Indeed, neorealists often argue that the ordering principle of the international system has not fundamentally changed from the time of Thucydides to the advent of nuclear warfare . The view that long-lasting peace is not likely to be achieved is described by other theorists as a largely pessimistic view of international relations . One of

1836-461: The "security dilemma." It examines how uncertainty and the offense-defense balance may heighten or soften the security dilemma. Building on Jervis, Stephen Van Evera explores the causes of war from a defensive realist perspective. Offensive realism, developed by Mearsheimer differs in the amount of power that states desire. Mearsheimer proposes that states maximize relative power ultimately aiming for regional hegemony. In addition to Mearsheimer,

1904-421: 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 both 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

1972-592: The 50th anniversary of the publication of Man, the State, and War and the 30th anniversary of Theory of International Politics . Waltz received honorary doctorates from Copenhagen University , Oberlin College , Nankai University , and Aberystwyth University , as well as from the University of Macedonia (Greece). The Kenneth N. Waltz Dissertation Award is a yearly award given by the American Political Science Association to

2040-613: The Hungarian state from a Chinese loan. The construction would be mainly done by Chinese companies. Hungarian education professionals and politicians denounced the investment, citing economics, higher education and national security concerns. Fudan has five undergraduate colleges – Zhide ( 志德 ), Tengfei ( 腾飞 ), Keqing ( 克卿 ), Renzhong ( 任重 ), and Xide ( 希德 ). The university has four campuses in Shanghai – Handan ( 邯郸 ), Fenglin ( 枫林 ), Zhangjiang ( 张江 ), and Jiangwan ( 江湾 ) – which share

2108-593: The James Madison Award for "distinguished scholarly contributions to political science" from the American Political Science Association in 1999. The International Studies Association in 2010 named him their International Security Studies Section Distinguished Scholar. In 2008, a conference in Waltz's honor was conducted by Aberystwyth University , titled "The King of Thought: Theory, the Subject and Waltz". It celebrated

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2176-444: The U.S. occupation of Japan. He graduated from Oberlin with an A.B. degree in 1948, having switched his major to economics. He was a Phi Beta Kappa and also named an Amos Miller Scholar. In 1949, he married Helen Elizabeth Lindsley, known as "Huddie". They had three children together. After attending Columbia University to obtain an upper graduate degree in economics, he switched to political science because political philosophy

2244-580: The US (leading to a Washington University degree). There are also a double degree in international management with Bocconi University and Luiss University in Italy (since 2005, leading to a master's in international management from one of the Italian universities), an executive MBA with National Taiwan University , and a global master's in management with London Business School (leading to degrees from both institutions). Fudan University School of Economics has had

2312-428: The academic job market and the pressure of his dissertation advisor. While preparing for his comprehensive exams, Waltz came up with the ideas that would ultimately become his dissertation and his 1959 book Man, the State and War . Waltz became a lecturer and then assistant professor at Columbia from 1953 to 1957. He became one of the early group of scholars at Columbia's Institute of War and Peace Studies and acted as

2380-554: The anarchic structure of the international system, which limits and constrains their choices. Neorealism thus aims to explain recurring patterns in international relations, such as why relations between Sparta and Athens resembled those between the United States and the Soviet Union in some important ways. Waltz emphasizes repeatedly in the book and elsewhere that he is not creating a theory of foreign policy , which aims to explain

2448-451: The behavior or actions of a particular state at a specific time or throughout a period. For Waltz, neorealism is divided into two branches: defensive and offensive neorealism. Although both branches agree that the structure of the system is what causes states to compete for power, defensive realism posits that most states seek a status quo and limit themselves to concentrate on maintaining the balance of power. Revisionist states are said to be

2516-399: The best defended dissertation on the study of international security and arms control. Students from around the country are allowed to submit their paper to the committee, which has four members. The committee accepts any style, whether its historical, quantitative, theoretical, policy analysis, etc. Neorealism (international relations) Neorealism or structural realism is

2584-457: The best means possible. Due to the anarchic nature of the international system and the inability of states to rely on other states or organizations, states have to engage in " self-help ." For neorealists, social norms are considered largely irrelevant. This is in contrast to some classical realists which did see norms as potentially important. Neorealists are also skeptical of the ability of international organizations to act independently in

2652-493: The causes of war. The third image posits that the cause of war is found at the systemic level and the anarchic structure of the international system is the root cause of war. In that context, " anarchy " was defined not as a condition of chaos or disorder but one in which no sovereign body governs the interactions between autonomous nation-states. In other words, in domestic society, citizens can theoretically rely on law enforcement agencies to protect their persons and property, but if

2720-469: The classical philosopher's writings mainly to describe what that image says about the cause of war, and the second usually had Waltz analyze the strengths and weaknesses of that image. Waltz's wife was essential in contributing the research that became the basis for the book. The first image argued that wars are often caused by the nature of particular statesmen and political leaders such as state leaders, like Napoleon , or by human nature more generally. That

2788-637: 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. The recurring principles of behavior include balancing of power (the theory was refined by Stephen Walt , who modified the "balance of power" concept to "balance of threat"), entering individually-competitive arms races, and exercising restraint in proportion to relative power. In Theory of International Politics (1979:6) Waltz suggested that explanation, rather than prediction,

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2856-553: The consensus that prevailed at the time" and "Even when you disagree, he moves your thinking ahead." Leslie H. Gelb has considered Waltz one of the "giants" who helped define the field of international relations as an academic discipline. Waltz received the Heinz Eulau Award in 1991 for Best Article in the American Political Science Review during 1990 for "Nuclear Myths and Political Realities". He received

2924-508: The diminishing academic freedom of Fudan. The university set up a 1 billion yuan fund of funds for start up innovation in 2023 as well as launching what it claims to be China’s largest cloud-based scientific research computing platform CFFF. The Hungarian government made an agreement to open the first campus of Fudan University outside China in Budapest in 2024. The expansion would cost 540 billion HUF, of which 450 billion would be paid by

2992-497: The effects of anarchy . With enough democracies in the world, Bruce Russett thinks that it "may be possible in part to supersede the 'realist' principles (anarchy, the security dilemma of states) that have dominated practice ... since at least the seventeenth century." John Mueller believes that it is not the spreading of democracy but rather other conditions (e.g., power) that bring about democracy and peace. In consenting with Mueller's argument, Kenneth Waltz notes that "some of

3060-533: The extent to which states balance against power (in Waltz's original neorealism and classic realism), versus the extent to which states balance against threats (as introduced in Stephen Walt 's 'The Origins of Alliances' (1987)), or balance against competing interests (as introduced in Randall Schweller's 'Deadly Imbalances' (1998)). Neorealists conclude that because war is an effect of the anarchic structure of

3128-399: The field of international relations was his influential 1959 book, Man, the State, and War . It classified theories of the causes of war into three categories, or levels of analysis. He referred to those levels of analysis as "images" and used the writings of one or more classic political philosophers to outline the major points of each image. Each image was given two chapters: the first used

3196-446: The international system and facilitate cooperation between states. Structural realism has become divided into two branches, defensive and offensive realism, following the publication of Mearsheimer's The Tragedy of Great Power Politics in 2001. Waltz's original formulation of neorealism is now sometimes called defensive realism, while Mearsheimer's modification of the theory is referred to as offensive realism. Both branches agree that

3264-456: The international system. A unipolar system contains only one great power, a bipolar system contains two great powers, and a multipolar system contains more than two great powers. Neorealists conclude that a bipolar system is more stable (less prone to great power war and systemic change) than a multipolar system because balancing can only occur through internal balancing as there are no extra great powers with which to form alliances. Because there

3332-642: The issues that neorealism has been criticized over is the neglect of domestic politics, race, gains from trade, the pacifying effects of institutions, and the relevance of regime type for foreign policy behavior. David Strang argues that neorealist predictions fail to account for transformations in sovereignty over time and across regions. These transformations in sovereignty have had implications for cooperation and competition, as polities that were recognized as sovereign have seen considerably greater stability. In response to criticisms that neorealism lacks relevance for contemporary international policy and does

3400-494: The main cause of war is rooted in the need for capitalist states to continue opening up new markets in order to perpetuate their economic system at home. Today, a more familiar example in the Western world is the notion that nondemocratic states, because of their internal composition, start wars. Waltz next assessed the first two images as being less influential in general than the third image but as ultimately necessary in understanding

3468-510: The main challenges to neorealist theory is the democratic peace theory and supporting research, such as the book Never at War . Neorealists answer this challenge by arguing that democratic peace theorists tend to pick and choose the definition of democracy to achieve the desired empirical result. For example, the Germany of Kaiser Wilhelm II , the Dominican Republic of Juan Bosch , and

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3536-487: The major democracies—Britain in the nineteenth century and the United States in the twentieth century—have been among the most powerful states of their eras." One of the most notable schools contending with neorealist thought, aside from neoliberalism, is the constructivist school, which is often seen to disagree with the neorealist focus on power and instead emphasises a focus on ideas and identity as an explanatory point for international relations trends. Recently, however,

3604-399: The nature of the international structure is defined by its ordering principle (anarchy), units of the system (states), and by the distribution of capabilities (measured by the number of great powers within the international system), with only the last being considered an independent variable with any meaningful change over time. The anarchic ordering principle of the international structure

3672-479: The new Fudan University. In December 2019, Fudan University changed its constitution, removing the phrase "academic independence and freedom of thought" (學術獨立和思想自由) and including a "pledge to follow the Communist party's leadership" (學校堅持中國共產黨的領導), leading to protests among the students. It also said that Fudan University had to "equip its teachers and employees" with " Xi Jinping Thought ", leading to concerns about

3740-428: The only states that seek to alter the balance. Offensive neorealism , in contrast to Waltz, asserts that nations seek local hegemony over neighboring states to assert authority in local relations with rival states. Waltz argues that contemporary geopolitics exists in a state of international affairs comparable to that of perpetual international anarchy . He distinguishes the anarchy of the international environment from

3808-420: 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, with its lack of a central enforcer, means that states must act in a way that ensures their security above all, or they otherwise risk falling behind. He wrote that

3876-410: The power of more powerful states or alliances. Neorealism sees states as " black boxes ," as the structure of the international system is emphasized rather than the units and their unique characteristics within it as being causal. Neorealists contend that there are essentially three possible systems according to changes in the distribution of capabilities, defined by the number of great powers within

3944-607: The same central administration. It also has 17 affiliated hospitals. As of 2024, Fudan has joint MBA programs in the School of Management with MIT Sloan School of Management in the US (since 1996, leading to a Fudan degree), BI Norwegian Business School in Norway (since 1996, leading to a BI Norwegian Business School degree), and the University of Hong Kong in Hong Kong (leading to a University of Hong Kong degree), Washington University in

4012-474: The states to honor the court's ruling. As a result, if an issue at stake is important enough to a state, it can achieve a satisfactory outcome only by using its power to impose its will on another state(s). The realization that any state can resort to armed force anytime forces each state to be always prepared for that contingency. Those themes were fleshed out more fully in Theory of International Politics , which, as

4080-409: The structure of the system is what causes states to compete, but defensive realism posits that most states concentrate on maintaining their security (i.e. states are security maximizers), while offensive realism claims that all states seek to gain as much power as possible (i.e. states are power maximizers). A foundational study in the area of defensive realism is Robert Jervis ' classic 1978 article on

4148-405: The term "anarchy" occurred on average 6.9 times in international relations books prior to 1979 but 35.5 times in those afterward. Like most other neorealists, Waltz accepted that globalization poses new challenges to states, but he did not believe that states are being replaced because no other non-state actor can equal the capabilities of the state. Waltz suggested that globalization is a fad of

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4216-409: The title suggests, explained a theory for international politics as a whole, rather than the narrower focus on what causes war. 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 that posits that the interaction of sovereign states can be explained by the pressures exerted on them by

4284-518: The urge to dominate, at the center of its explanation for war, but neorealism stakes a reduced claim on human nature and argues instead that the pressures of anarchy tend to shape outcomes more directly than the human nature of statesmen and diplomats or domestic governmental preferences. Waltz's theory, as he explicitly states in Theory of International Politics , is not a theory of foreign policy and does not attempt to predict specific state actions, such as

4352-546: The world, including the London School of Economics , the Australian National University , and the University of Bologna . Waltz served as an instructor at MIT Seminar XXI . Waltz retired from his position at Berkeley and returned to Columbia University in 1997. There, he became an adjunct professor as well as a senior research scholar at the Institute of War and Peace Studies. Waltz served as Secretary of

4420-549: Was Fudan Public School ( 复旦公学 ) founded in 1905, by the Chinese Jesuit priest Ma Xiangbo . It was one of the earliest privately-founded colleges and universities in China. The predecessor of Shanghai Medical University ( 上海医科大学 ) was the Fourth National Sun Yat-sen University School of Medicine ( 国立第四中山大学医学院 ) founded in 1927. In 2000, Fudan University merged with Shanghai Medical University to form

4488-581: Was a research associate at Center for International Affairs at Harvard University in 1963 to 1964, 1968, 1969, and 1972. He held a National Science Foundation grant from 1968 to 1971 to develop a theory of international politics. He was a Guggenheim Fellow for 1976 to 1977 and a fellow at the Institute for the Study of World Politics in 1977. He was a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in 1979–1980. He then became

4556-619: Was born on June 8, 1924, in Ann Arbor, Michigan . He grew up and attended high school there. He then attended Oberlin College , where he started out majoring in mathematics. That was interrupted to serve in the United States Army from 1944 to 1946 during World War II, when he rose in rank from private to first lieutenant. Waltz served in the Pacific theater of the war and was stationed in Japan during

4624-594: Was more interesting to him. He received his M.A. degree from there in 1950. He was an instructor at Oberlin for a while in 1950. A member of the US Army Reserve , he was called upon to serve again during the Korean War , which he did during 1951–52 as a first lieutenant. Returning to Columbia, he obtained his Ph.D. under William T. R. Fox in 1954. During his PhD studies, Waltz was most interested in political theory, but gravitated towards international relations due to

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