The great scholar Kenneth Waltz has recently passed away. Waltz is famous for writing Man, The State, and War, a classic of International Relations, which is number one in Stephen Walt’s top ten IR books list and made the List Muse top 100 nonfiction books list. More recently he wrote an article on Why Iran Should Get The Bomb, and spoke on Israel and the US. In the following hour-long interview, Waltz describes his life and work in detail.
Tag: kenneth waltz
Kenneth Waltz on Israel and the US
Kenneth Waltz, one of the leading figures in International Relations, on Israel and the US, at the University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Why Iran Should Get the Bomb
In Foreign Affairs, Kenneth Waltz, the towering international relations theorist, argues that nuclear balancing will bring stability to the Middle East. He writes:
Most U.S., European, and Israeli commentators and policymakers warn that a nuclear-armed Iran would be the worst possible outcome of the current standoff. In fact, it would probably be the best possible result: the one most likely to restore stability to the Middle East.
He adds:
Diplomacy between Iran and the major powers should continue, because open lines of communication will make the Western countries feel better able to live with a nuclear Iran. But the current sanctions on Iran can be dropped: they primarily harm ordinary Iranians, with little purpose.
Most important, policymakers and citizens in the Arab world, Europe, Israel, and the United States should take comfort from the fact that history has shown that where nuclear capabilities emerge, so, too, does stability. When it comes to nuclear weapons, now as ever, more may be better.
You can read the rest here.
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