In this book Kenneth N. Waltz presents his theory – neorealism - about the structure of international relations and forces that affect actors within a system to behave in the way they do.
By this critical review I am going to (1) identify the main ideas and arguments of the each chapter and (2) evaluate according to the important points I found in this inquiry.
The main purposes of chapter 1 is to give an accurate interpretation of such basic terms as “a law” and “a theory”, explain how the theories can be constructed and show the importance of the clearly identified terms within the theory. Waltz describes “a law” as a relation, that is constantly observed and “a theory” as an explanation to this relation. He uses the examples from physics (like Aristotle, Galileo and Newton’s theories about push and movement) to provide better understanding. The author refers to a theory as a simplistic model of the reality, which is, however, cannot be the reality itself. Further, Waltz sets out some ideas and instructions how these theories can be developed. Since there is no way to explain and teach creativity, the author gives identifications to the theory elements, which are stated as isolation, abstraction, aggregation and idealization. They are supposed to help in the recognition of the main patterns that can be used as a basis for…show more content… It seems like every member of every unit of Waltz’s theory is seeking for dominance and power (like states seek ways to become superstates, order inhabitants - rulers). Of course autonomy is main prerequisite for further development, but it looks like this theory does not take into account what happens after state has ensured his independence. If we use analogy with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and try to adjust it to the states, in the next step they should seek for self-esteem, respect of others and respect by