Waltz
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 dis
This is not true however in the international system. Waltz example of the card game helps to show that the balance of power does exists between states in the international system. He also displays how a state can loose, by being blind to the need to cooperate. like each other too much, or that they are not intelligent enough to realize that this cooperation needs to happen. He uses the second example to show how two sides join together, and their gains become the other party's loss. Waltz also suggests that the balance of power exists because in the international system there is no government. This is why states balance power, according to Waltz; they would be silly not too. 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". Here he uses the pie to show that the problem is not just how to divided the pie, between players, but also how much to make so that everyone can revise maximum benefit. Yet the freedom of states to decide what games to play hinders other states from making decisions, and the freedom that one state has, is limited by the actions of other states. They would be silly not to, because it all comes back down to the question of the survival of the state, and what is done to preserve this survival. This breaking of the code is done by balancing of power, because other states will join together to stop the breaker of the code from advancing in any gains. The result of another state winning the "game" is that the other states involved are now at a loss. Toward the end of his discussion Waltz gives an example of the Atlantic Security Pact, and how Tannenbaum claims this is only a temporary and defensive, and therefore is not a balance of power, but just a system of collective security for the moment, to divide ourselves from Russia. Yet Waltz points out that this was a balance of power because it was motivated out of the fear of the Soviet power.
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Acceptance Essays
