Kenneth N. Waltz Quotes

Kenneth Neal Waltz was an American political scientist who was a member of the faculty at both the University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University and one of the most prominent scholars in the field of international relations. He was a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War.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. In 1981, Waltz published a monograph arguing that in some cases the proliferation of nuclear weapons could increase the probability of international peace.Leslie H. Gelb has considered Waltz one of the "giants" who helped define the field of international relations as an academic discipline. Columbia University colleague Robert Jervis has said of Waltz, "Almost everything he has written challenges the consensus that prevailed at the time" and "Even when you disagree, he moves your thinking ahead." Wikipedia  

✵ 8. June 1924 – 12. May 2013
Kenneth N. Waltz photo

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Kenneth N. Waltz: 26   quotes 2   likes

Famous Kenneth N. Waltz Quotes

“Once socialism replaces capitalism, reason will determine the policies of states.”

Source: Man, the State, and War (1959), Chapter V, Some Implications Of The Second Image, p. 150

“Then what explains war among states? Rousseau's answer is really that war occurs because there is nothing to prevent it.”

Source: Man, the State, and War (1959), Chapter VII, Some Implications Of The Third Image, p. 188

“It is not true that were the Soviet Union to disappear the remaining states could easily live in peace.”

Source: Man, the State, and War (1959), Chapter VIII, Conclusion, p. 230

“The most important causes of political arrangements and acts are found in the nature and behavior of man.”

Source: Man, the State, and War (1959), Chapter III, Some Implications Of The First Image, p. 42

Kenneth N. Waltz Quotes about war

“War may achieve a redistribution of resources, but labor, not war, creates wealth.”

Source: Man, the State, and War (1959), Chapter VIII, Conclusion, p. 224

“The transitory interests of royal houses may be advanced in war; the real interests of all people are furthered by the peace.”

Source: Man, the State, and War (1959), Chapter IV, The Second Image, p. 98

Kenneth N. Waltz Quotes

“Each man does seek his own interest, but, unfortunately, not according to the dictates of reason.”

Source: Man, the State, and War (1959), Chapter II, The First Image, p. 23

“No system of balance functions automatically.”

Source: Man, the State, and War (1959), Chapter VII, Some Implications Of The Third Image, p. 210

“In anarchy there is no automatic harmony.”

Source: Man, the State, and War (1959), Chapter VI, The Third Image, p. 160

“Is it capitalism or states that must be destroyed in order to get peace, or must both be abolished?”

Source: Man, the State, and War (1959), Chapter V, Some Implications Of The Second Image, p. 127

“To build a theory of international relations on accidents of geography and history is dangerous.”

Source: Man, the State, and War (1959), Chapter IV, The Second Image, p. 107

“In a zero-sum game, the problem is entirely one of distribution, not at all one of production.”

Source: Man, the State, and War (1959), Chapter VII, Some Implications Of The Third Image, p. 202

“External pressure seems to produce internal unity.”

Source: Man, the State, and War (1959), Chapter V, Some Implications Of The Second Image, p. 149

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