POLS 2200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: The Billiard Ball, Billiard Ball, Kenneth Waltz
24 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
Primary focus: structure of the system, international system. Distribution of power among and between states the system determines what states do. Seeks to provide a scientific explanation of the international political system. Waltz begins with independent states existing and operating within a system of international anarchy. In classical realism, state leaders and their international decisions and actions are the center of attention. Neo-realists regard the distribution of power as the central analytical focus. The distribution of power determines the structure of the international system. The system produces effects so powerful that it"s like a structure. A basic feature of the international system is anarchy. Within this system, states are alike in all basic functions- in spite of their cultural or ideological differences. States differ only in regards to their varying capabilities for performing similar tasks. The structure of the system changes within changes in the distribution of capabilities across the system"s units.
