Aisha Dos Santos
45786150
POLI 367B
Blog Post #2: Kenneth Waltz: Why Iran should get the bomb
Why Iran should get the bomb by Kenneth Waltz helped to provide further insight into the topic/theme of neorealism and structural realism. More specifically, that for realist’s international politics will always be synonymous with the issue of power politics. The crisis of Iran’s nuclear program displays the threat between nations over existing military powers and the need for a restoration through the balance of military power. Waltz highlights the fact that as one state amasses a wealth of power that has not yet been superseded in the region (ie. Israel) it causes other states (ie. Iran) to gain a nuclear arsenal for themselves, not necessarily to attack the state with the monopoly of power offensively, but to take the defensive approach to protect themselves. But from Israel’s point of view, Iran amassing more nuclear power poses a potential threat to the stability of their power.
This article helped to be a great example of what Thucydides stated in his famous quote about how “it was the rise of Athens and the fear that this inspired in Sparta that made war inevitable”, even though this is a classical realist approach to international relations theory we can still see how structural realists like Waltz can see the power dynamics between Israel and Iran as synonymous with the power struggles exemplified between Athens and Sparta. Waltz’s remedy to this looming power is to realize that as a structural realist he maintains that nations will act rationally and will try there best not to act in irrational and impulsive ways that will undermine their own power and security, so Iran is less likely to employ an offensive attack against Israel even with their growing nuclear power. This rationality employed by nations is demonstrated through Iran’s lack of action with their nuclear arsenal, and this example provided by Waltz in this article helps me to understand this realist notion with a real-life case shown between competing nations in the Middle East. This rationality stems from the fact that conflict amongst two strong nuclear powers will never amount to a full-scale war due to the deterrence and fear of one striking first. This reading exemplifies the need for diplomacy between states to bring about peace and stability between nations and their allies into the forefront of the international sphere, and that it’s possible that as multiple countries become equally as strong as one another stability may be achieved.
Kenneth Waltz (2012) “Why Iran should get the bomb,” Foreign Affairs, 91(4): 2-5.