Structural Realism after the Cold War

Abstract

"Every time peace breaks out, people pop up to proclaim that realism is dead." So says Kenneth Waltz of Columbia University, who argues that claims of structural realism's demise are greatly exaggerated. According to Waltz, only changes of the international political system—in other words, changes that would render international politics as we know it obsolete—would require new thinking about how states behave. Changes in the system, including changes in polarity and weaponry, do not diminish realism's explanatory power. Waltz considers three phenomena that some theorists assert are transforming international politics—the spread of democracy, increased national interdependence, and the changing role of international institutions—but finds nothing to suggest that any of these have caused states to begin subordinating their national interests to international concerns.