Kenneth Waltz
| Kenneth Neal Waltz | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
June 8, 1924 Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Died | May 12, 2013 (aged 88) New York City, New York |
| Era | Contemporary philosophy |
| Region | Western Philosophy |
| School | Neorealism |
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Main interests
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International security, nuclear security, anarchy |
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Notable ideas
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Structural realism, defensive realism |
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Influences
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Kenneth Neal Waltz (/wɔːlts/; June 8, 1924 – May 12, 2013) was an American political scientist who was a member of the faculty at both the University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University and one of the most prominent scholars in the field of international relations. He was a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War.
Waltz was a founder of neorealism, or structural realism, in international relations theory. Waltz's theories have been extensively debated within the field of international relations. In 1981, Waltz published a monograph arguing that in some cases the proliferation of nuclear weapons could increase the probability of international peace.
Leslie H. Gelb has considered Waltz one of the "giants" who helped define the field of international relations as an academic discipline. Columbia University colleague Robert Jervis has said of Waltz, "Almost everything he has written challenges the consensus that prevailed at the time" and "Even when you disagree, he moves your thinking ahead."
Waltz was born on June 8, 1924, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He grew up and attended high school there. He then attended Oberlin College, where he started out majoring in mathematics. That was interrupted to serve in the Army of the United States from 1944–46 during World War II, when he rose in rank from private to first lieutenant.
He graduated from Oberlin with an A.B. degree in 1948, having switched his major to economics. He was a Phi Beta Kappa and also named an Amos Miller Scholar.
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