Waltz post-"class"

Unfortunately, "the perils of life in the capital of the Empire" (cf. potential security incidents) precluded my participation in this class discussion. This is quite disappointing, as it seems that the discussion was quite engaging. I'm particularly interested in Elizabeth's discussion of the asymptotic nature of parts of Waltz's analysis.

The consensus of the post-class blogs (and likely during the discussion, it seems) is that Waltz left huge factors out of his analysis. As Jesse writes, "What of international trade regimes, human rights regimes, NGOs, social movements, international law, etc.?"

For me, one of the interesting critiques that Waltz offers is that of the first image's reliance on knowledge/education to cure the ills of the world. Particularly, on page 48 he discusses the widely held notion that increased contact with and knowledge of other cultures will create more peaceful encounters, lleading to the diminution of instances/causes of war.

This is a position that is overwhelmingly held by advocates of public diplomacy and international exchange (cf. Fulbright program). Indeed, this is a widely held belief among many in the SIS program. If we can just get people to encounter other cultures, understanding will blossom. While I think there is definitely merit to the position, Waltz rightly (I think) points out that not all people come back more humbly after having encountered the "other." In fact, some come away feeling more nationalistic, he argues.

Education and cultural encounters do have a positive impact on many people, diminishing the animosity sometimes felt toward others, but it is by no means the silver bullet that some like to think it is. In this, among other things, I think Waltz makes an astute critique of the first image.