New Realist Research on Alliances: Refining, Not Refuting, Waltz's Balancing Proposition

• Published in: The American political science review Vol. 91; no. 4; pp. 927 - 930
• Main Author: Schweller, Randall L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01-12-1997; American Political Science Association
• Subjects: Alliances; Analysis; Competition; Congenital Impairments; Constructivism (Learning); Economic competition; Ethics; Foreign policy; Forum; Human Relations; Hypotheses; Institutionalism; International alliances; International politics; International relations; Morality; Neorealism; Pessimism; Philosophy; Political Influences; Political philosophy; Political realism; Political science; Political science research; Political theory; Politics; Power; Prestige; Realism; Reason; Reputation; Research programmes; Research Projects; Scientific Research; Vasquez, John A; War; World Views
• ISSN: 0003-0554; 1537-5943
• DOI: 10.2307/2952176

Realism is both a scientific research program and, more traditionally, a political philosophy. All realists share a pessimistic worldview that posits perpetual struggle among groups for security, prestige, and power and that denies the capacity of human reason to create a world of peace and harmony. Recent research by so-called neotraditional realists does not disconfirm Waltz's balancing proposition. Instead, these works have tended to add unit-level variables in order to transform Waltz's theory of international politics into one of foreign policy. The question is not whether states balance or bandwagon—history clearly shows that they do both—but rather under what conditions states choose one strategy or the other.