Continuity and Transformation in the World Polity: Toward a Neorealist Synthesis

TLDR

Waltz’s Theory of International Politics extends his earlier work by using the structure of the international system to explain outcomes, yet it struggles to account for the persistent lack of fundamental change in the global polity. This review seeks to revise and enhance Waltz’s theory while remaining consistent with core realist principles. The critique identifies three shortcomings: (1) the definition of structure ignores the medieval‑to‑modern transition; (2) the structuralist method systematically underestimates potential change; and (3) the model permits only reproductive, not transformational, logic. Because Waltz’s epistemology biases against change, he concludes that future continuity is likely, a position the review contests.

Abstract

Kenneth Waltz's recent book, Theory of International Politics , is one of the most important contributions to international relations theory since his Man, the State and War . It picks up where the earlier work left off: with the structure of the international system serving as the basis for explaining a variety of international outcomes. The most profound and perhaps the most perplexing outcome Waltz attempts to explain is the lack of fundamental change in the international polity. The author argues that Waltz does not fully succeed in this endeavor for three reasons. First, his definition of structure fails to capture so momentous a change as that from the medieval to the modern international systems. Second, his application of the structuralist method leads him to ask questions in such a way that the answers systematically understate the degree of potential change in the contemporary international system. Third, his model of structural explanation turns out to allow only for a reproductive logic but not for a transformational logic. With the epistemological underpinnings of his theory thus biased against the possibility of change, it is not surprising that Waltz finds the likelihood of future continuity compelling. In the spirit of constructive criticism, this review article tries to amend and augment the theory in a manner that is not incompatible with its basic realist precepts.