Waltz

A detailed Summary of Waltz

Kenneth Waltz begins his discussion of the balance of power by asking the question of whether or not it even exists. He asks whether or not it is an illusion or reality. He feels that it does exist and that it is strongly a part of states everyday reality. He feels this way, because he believes that a key factor to states, if not the most important factor is the one of survival. States are not guaranteed security, unless they provide it for themselves, according to Waltz. States will do whatever is necessary to protect themselves, including cooperation and forming coalitions, to guarantee this security.

Waltz uses an example of an ordinary card game to help examine his point. He says that in a card game, with two or more players, one who wants to win has to follow a strategy. Not just his own, but the strategies of the other players as well. To win this game, one may form a coalition with another, although that player could have been considered the "enemy" less than a few minuets ago. Waltz also points out that this collaboration between the two comes when another player is on the verge of winning. He also states that this cooperation, may not even happen, for various reasons. These reasons could be that the two dis

Waltz also gives an example using a pie. He says that in some games changes in strategy may be advantageous to both groups. Here he uses the pie to show that the problem is not just how to divided the pie, between players, but also how much to make so that everyone can revise maximum benefit. Two things he feels could happen. 1) All the players may cooperate to make the biggest pie, or 2) the players will be too concerned with the pie that already exists and how it will be divided, so they forget about maximizing the pie to increase the amount that everyone will get.

These two examples relate to international politics by the fact that the first example can be used to say that all states may band together with nature against them, according to Waltz. He uses the second example to show how two sides join together, and their gains become the other party's loss. Waltz also says that there is another possibility. That the game will not be played at all, because no one likes pie.

Here Waltz is able to take a simple card game, and develop the basic reasons, why states cooperate, and this reason is because they want to balance the power of another state, that is on the verge of winning the "game". The result of another state winning the "game" is that the other states involved are now at a loss. He also displays how a state can loose, by being blind to the need to cooperate. States may not balance the power of another, because of such things as sta

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Approximate Word count = 987
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics