Waltz essays

Waltz essays 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 dislike each other too much, or that they are not intelligent enough to realize that this cooperation needs to happen. 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 states not getting along, or the fact that they are just too ignorant to realize that they need to cooperate so that they ca...