Kenneth Waltz
Kenneth Neal Waltz (/wɔːlts/; June 8, 1924 – May 12, 2013[1]) 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.[2] He was a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War.[3]
Kenneth Neal Waltz
June 8, 1924
May 12, 2013 (aged 88)
Western Philosophy
- Man, the State, and the State System in Theories of the Causes of War (1954)
1944 – 1946
Waltz was one of the original founders of neorealism, or structural realism, in international relations theory and later became associated with the school of defensive neorealism. Waltz's theories have been extensively debated within the field of international relations.[4] His 1979 book Theory of International Politics is the most assigned book in International Relations graduate training at U.S. universities.[5]
Early life, education, and military service[edit]
Waltz was born on June 8, 1924, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.[1] He grew up and attended high school there. He then attended Oberlin College, where he started out majoring in mathematics.[6] That was interrupted to serve in the Army of the United States from 1944 to 1946 during World War II,[7] when he rose in rank from private to first lieutenant. Waltz served in the Pacific theater of the war and was stationed in Japan during the U.S. occupation of Japan.[8]
He graduated from Oberlin with an A.B. degree in 1948,[7] having switched his major to economics.[6] He was a Phi Beta Kappa[7] and also named an Amos Miller Scholar.
In 1949, he married Helen Elizabeth Lindsley,[7] known as "Huddie". They had three children together.[7] After attending Columbia University to obtain an upper graduate degree in economics, he switched to political science because political philosophy was more interesting to him.[6] He received his M.A. degree from there in 1950.[7] He was an instructor at Oberlin for a while in 1950. A member of the US Army Reserve, he was called upon to serve again during the Korean War,[1] which he did during 1951–52[7] as a first lieutenant.[8]
Returning to Columbia, he obtained his Ph.D. under William T. R. Fox in 1954.[7] During his PhD studies, Waltz was most interested in political theory, but gravitated towards international relations due to the academic job market and the pressure of his dissertation advisor.[8] While preparing for his comprehensive exams, Waltz came up with the ideas that would ultimately become his dissertation and his 1959 book Man, the State and War.[8][1]
Awards and honors[edit]
Waltz received the Heinz Eulau Award in 1991 for Best Article in the American Political Science Review during 1990 for "Nuclear Myths and Political Realities".[21]
He received the James Madison Award for "distinguished scholarly contributions to political science" from the American Political Science Association in 1999.[4]
The International Studies Association in 2010 named him their International Security Studies Section Distinguished Scholar.[3]
In 2008, a conference in Waltz's honor was conducted by Aberystwyth University, titled "The King of Thought: Theory, the Subject and Waltz".[1] It celebrated the 50th anniversary of the publication of Man, the State, and War and the 30th anniversary of Theory of International Politics.[3]
Waltz received honorary doctorates from Copenhagen University, Oberlin College, Nankai University, and Aberystwyth University,[3] as well as from the University of Macedonia (Greece).
Dissertation Award[edit]
The Kenneth N. Waltz Dissertation Award is a yearly award given by the American Political Science Association to the best defended dissertation on the study of international security and arms control. Students from around the country are allowed to submit their paper to the committee, which has four members. The committee accepts any style, whether its historical, quantitative, theoretical, policy analysis, etc.[22]