Theory of International Politics

Citation

Waltz, K. N. (2010). Theory of International Politics. Waveland Press. (Originally published 1979 by Addison-Wesley.)

Chapter Summary

The Waveland edition reprints the 1979 text in about 250 pages: nine chapters, a bibliography and an index. The chapter titles trace a clear order. The first four chapters concern what a theory is and why theories of international politics built on the characteristics of states, or on the interaction of states, fall short of a systemic theory. Chapter 5 builds the concept of political structure, Chapter 6 applies it to the international realm, and Chapters 7 to 9 apply it to economic effects, military effects and the management of international affairs.

Chapter 1: Laws and Theories

The opening chapter is about the nature of theory itself, the relation of laws to theories, and what a theory of international politics would have to be. It sets the standard by which the later chapters judge other approaches.

Chapter 2: Reductionist Theories

This chapter examines theories that explain international outcomes by looking at the parts of the system, namely the states and their internal characteristics. It prepares the argument that such explanations are incomplete.

Chapter 3: Systemic Approaches and Theories

Chapter 3 turns to approaches that explain outcomes at the level of the system. The title separates systemic approaches from systemic theories, so the chapter is also concerned with what makes a systemic account a theory.

Chapter 4: Reductionist and Systemic Theories

Chapter 4 sets the two kinds of theory side by side and compares them, which closes the first group of chapters.

Chapter 5: Political Structures

The chapter builds the idea of political structure, the central concept of the book, before it is applied to international politics.

Chapter 6: Anarchic Orders and Balances of Power

The structural concept is applied to the international realm, which the title describes as an anarchic order, and to the balance of power, the recurring pattern the theory is meant to explain.

Chapter 7: Structural Causes and Economic Effects

Chapter 7 asks what a structural theory can say about economic outcomes among states.

Chapter 8: Structural Causes and Military Effects

Chapter 8 does the same for military outcomes.

Chapter 9: The Management of International Affairs

The final chapter turns to how international affairs are managed under the structural conditions set out earlier.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–4: Theory and Levels of Explanation

• Laws and theories: the distinction on which the first chapter is built.
• Reductionist theory: explanation that works from the characteristics of states, the parts of the system.
• Systemic approach and systemic theory: explanation at the level of the system, distinguished in the title of Chapter 3.

Chapters 5–6: Structure

• Political structure: the central concept of Chapter 5.
• Anarchic order: the structure of the international realm as the Chapter 6 title describes it.
• Balance of power: the pattern the structural account addresses.

Chapters 7–9: Applications

• Structural cause and effect: the form in which the economic and military chapters present the theory's claims.
• Management of international affairs: the topic of the closing chapter.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• A sequence that argues as it goes. The chapter titles show a deliberate order, from a discussion of theory, through a critique of two kinds of explanation, to a positive concept of structure and its applications, so the book can be followed as a single argument.
• Compact. At roughly 250 pages with nine chapters, the book states a whole theory at a length a student can read in full, and the same text is the reference point for later debates, including constructivist replies such as Alexander Wendt's Social Theory of International Politics.
• Philosophy of science up front. The opening chapter treats laws and theories before any claim about world politics, so readers see what the author counts as a theory before they are asked to accept one.

Limitations

• Published in 1979. The 2010 edition is a reprint of the original, with the chapters as first written; material on the post-Cold War world, globalisation or later empirical research must come from other books.
• Prior grounding is needed. The first four chapters work with ideas about theory and levels of explanation that are easy to misread without some background in international relations theory and some interest in the philosophy of science.
• One theory, argued by its author. The book defends a single structural account, and the nature of its critique of other approaches is set by the author; for the rival views at full strength a reader should consult their own authors and a textbook that presents the traditions side by side.

Where It Fits in the Course

In the international relations course, this is the primary source for structural realism and sits at the advanced end of the list. The introductory books give the map first: Christian Reus-Smit's International Relations: A Very Short Introduction, Baylis, Smith and Owens's The Globalization of World Politics, Sørensen and Møller's Introduction to International Relations and Global Politics and Frieden, Lake, Schultz, Hyde and Rickard's World Politics: Interests, Interactions, Institutions each present the main theories for a first reader, and a reader who has met realism there will find Waltz's statements of it easier to place.

Alexander Wendt's Social Theory of International Politics is written in direct engagement with Waltz and is the natural book to read next, since it argues that the structure of the system is social as well as material. Reading Waltz first makes Wendt's argument legible; reading both together shows the debate between realist and constructivist treatments of anarchy.

How to Use This Book

The book is intended for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students in international relations theory, and it can be read in one or two weeks for a theory seminar. A first course in international relations is the useful preparation; some interest in what makes an explanation a theory helps with the opening chapters.

A practical plan:

• Read Chapters 1 to 4 for the argument about theory, but do not stall: the aim is to see why the author thinks a systemic theory is needed. A reader mainly interested in the theory's content could begin with Chapter 5 and return to the earlier chapters afterwards.
• Treat Chapters 5 and 6 as the core. They contain the concept of political structure and its application to anarchy and the balance of power.
• Read Chapters 7 to 9 as applications, with Chapter 8 on military effects the counterpart to Chapter 7 on economic effects.
• Read with a critic beside it. Pair the book with Wendt's work or with a textbook chapter on realism and its critics, and note where each argument depends on how the other defines structure.