Kenneth Waltz Argument

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Summary of Waltz’s Argument
Kenneth Waltz, a leading scholar in international relations and founder of neorealism, rebuts Scott Sagan in their ongoing debate on nuclear proliferation. In his critique, Sagan presents “the problems and conditions that conduce to [nuclear] pessimism.” Waltz’s chapter 4 responds to Sagan by emphasizing “the likely solutions and the conditions that conduce to [nuclear] optimism.” It does so by dividing the chapter into six parts, A-F.
A. Terror
Three types of terrorist organizations exist: ones who “threaten to use force to compel a particular performance,” ones “who want to punish,” and ones “who kill and destroy for the sake of doing so.” All three groups have long term goals, which means survival is a key objective. …show more content…
Waltz exhibits a logical, albeit brief overview of the reasons for nuclear optimism. Each reason Waltz presented could have been an article within itself, but because of the article’s length, Waltz simplified and condensed many of his arguments to fit. Unfortunately, much of their impact was lost in this shortcut. Waltz did not address all the counter arguments to his reasoning, presumably waiting for the next chapter after Sagan. Instead, Waltz committed to the irrefutability of his own logic. He placed his argument into the framework of deterrence and uncertainty. These two topics are widely researched and published, and therefore highly compelling when paired with logical narratives. It is nigh impossible to disagree with the overarching ideas when specific historical evidence shows Waltz’s theory prevailing; however, unless there is a full belief in the uncertainty theory, none of Waltz’s points have a strong foundation. The conclusion was the most convincing piece of the chapter. Like Sagan, Waltz firmly believes in the destructive power of nuclear weapons to influence states and individual actors. Both optimists and pessimists agree that arsenal sizes should be reduced and nuclear weapons should be taken off high

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