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The world has changed since Waltz first major publication in international relations, though his analysis are still largely considered to be correct. Waltz, was an American political scientist who was a member of the faculty at both the University of California, Berkeley, he was regarded as one of the most prominent scholars in the field of international relations. In this book, Man, the State, and War, Waltz reassesses modern political thought about the human nature of man, and how it transcends to war. By using political thinkers like Machiavelli, and Hobbes, Waltz is able to portray human behavior as the main reason countries go to war. According to Waltz, war is a timeless quality that can be portrayed throughout history. Though many different ideas for what causes war have been thought and philosophized, the nature of war has not changed. Man has and will always find a reason to go to war with other men, whether by using rocks and spears, or missiles and bullets. Ultimately Waltz tries to answer, why states go to war? Waltz states that a solution to end war would be a world government to stabilize the anarchy of states behavior. The title of this book suggest the three pivotal aspects of the causes of war according to Waltz, man’s nature, the existence of the state, and the international system.

According to Waltz, human behavior is one of the major reason states end up going to war with each other. Man is fundamentally selfish, always looking for ways to benefit himself over others. With a limited amount of land, and raw materials, man would do whatever it takes to gather as much wealth as he possibly can. With an aggressive impulse, man reacts un-reasonability to situations it doesn’t understand, which leads to conflict....

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...omplish their means, peaceful states will also need to arm themselves to protect their seventy. Therefore, war occurs because there is nothing to prevent it.

Conclusion

Waltz theory of why countries go to war is a mandatory reading for all international students, the ideas that are achnolegge have long been used to predict action by states, and to form foreign policy. Wetzel acknowledge the history of war, and his three main caused give his theory a good foundation. However, waltz give no inclination that there might be other factors to why states go to war. Waltz disregards economic factors, different cultures, and religions. By only focusing on man, and their nature, waltz rejects any possible alternative. I definitely enjoyed reading this book, and I would recommend it as the first step for anybody who wants to get a better understanding of why states go to war.