This book is generally divided into six chapters, each of which is as follows:
The first chapter is the introduction of the full text. In this chapter, the author first briefly discusses some basic situations about Waltz's theory of "structural realism", that is, the formation background, main features and basic characteristics of the theory. The author summarizes the current critical opinions about Waltz theory in detail, which lays the necessary theoretical foundation for the full text. Finally, the author summarizes some basic problems existing in the current research on Waltz theory in detail, and on this basis, summarizes the research perspective of Waltz theory in this paper in detail. In this chapter, the author clearly points out that the theory of "structural realism" founded by Waltz is actually a highly abstract interpretation model, so the study of this theory must start with a critical analysis of itself, which should include three parts in principle: First, what kind of theoretical sediment is Waltz's theory mainly based on? Compared with the previous theories belonging to the same ideological tradition, what are the inheritance and development of Waltz's theory? Secondly, what is the theoretical explanation mode of international political reality that Waltz constructed in his works? Does this interpretation mode itself have logical consistency? Thirdly, what are the inherent disadvantages of waltz's interpretation model? And what are the main reasons for these inherent disadvantages of waltz theory?
Generally speaking, the first question mainly involves two aspects, namely, the ideological tradition of structural realism and the relationship between Waltz's theory and this tradition, which are also the contents involved in the second and third chapters of this book. Generally speaking, the ideological origin of Waltz theory can be traced back to the political philosophy of Thomas Hobbes, a great British thinker in modern times. Hobbes' political philosophy is based on the theory of natural state, which aims to show that in a social state lacking the authority of the public, people must be in a state of war in which all people oppose all people. Hobbes' philosophy of international relations is based on the theory of natural state, and thus derives his core about the nature of international relations. Theoretically, one of the core elements in Hobbes' philosophy of international relations, namely, international anarchy and the international power struggle caused by it, was directly inherited and carried forward by jean jacques Rousseaux, a great French thinker in the 18th century, and John Hertz and kenneth n. waltz, famous American international political scientists in the 2th century. The close connection between Waltz's theory and Hobbes' political philosophy is embodied in the fact that his basic judgment and value tendency about the essence of modern international relations are completely dependent on the "domestic analogy" of international politics initiated by Hobbes. Waltz's theory has made two main contributions to the tradition of structural realism. First, it has perfected and developed a theoretical method for systematic research on international politics, namely "analytic hierarchy process". Second, it has accurately defined the structure of the system, and on this basis, it has constructed a real systematic analysis framework for international politics.
Similar to the first question, the second question also includes two aspects, namely, the logical structure of Waltz's theory and the concrete conclusion drawn by Waltz's application of this structure to the analysis of international politics, which constitute the contents involved in the fourth and fifth chapters of this book. Generally speaking, the theory of structural realism founded by Waltz is essentially a systematic theory of international politics. The greatest contribution of this theory is to provide a systematic analytical framework for understanding the complicated international political reality. Because Waltz defined the system as containing a kind of structure and interacting units, he clearly divided the system into two basic analytical levels, namely, the system level and the unit level. This means that Waltz's theory should contain three main independent variables, namely, the structure of system level and the process and attribute of unit level. Although Waltz's theory can't explain the social or progressive changes in international politics, it also contains two kinds of change logic about the distribution of power in international politics. In theory, because the international political structure defined by Waltz actually contains two core elements, namely, international anarchy and the distribution of power among international actors, the investigation of the effects of Waltz's theory on international political structure is also divided into two parts in principle, namely, "the logic of anarchy" and "the international influence of power distribution". The former is mainly about a series of restrictive effects of international anarchy on unit behavior and behavior results. The latter mainly examines the different meanings of the two basic power distribution structures in anarchy. Waltz draws two conclusions from his investigation of the effects of international political structure: first, the balance of power in anarchy is bound to be generated repeatedly and automatically, and second, the bipolar structure is more conducive to maintaining peace among countries in anarchy, especially among major powers.
In theory, the specific connotation of the third question mainly involves the inherent defects of Waltz theory, which is the main content of the sixth chapter of this book. In essence, the theory of structural realism founded by Waltz can be said to be a typical embodiment of Hobbes' philosophy of international relations, a great British thinker in modern times, in contemporary western international relations theory. However, while directly inheriting the basic core of Hobbes' philosophy of international relations, Waltz's theory almost also reproduces all those major defects in Hobbes' philosophy of international relations. Generally speaking, the international anarchy defined in Waltz's theory actually contains two basic components, namely, the international anarchy is not only a state lacking the authority of the international public, but also a self-help state relying on force to survive. Waltz's definition of international anarchy, to a great extent, determines that Waltz's theory is bound to have exactly the same disadvantages as Hobbes' philosophy of international relations, namely, the tendency of oversimplification in deductive logic and the tendency of moral equivalence in value trend; In theory, there are three fundamental problems in the "international anarchy" defined by waltz in his theory: first, the international anarchy defined by waltz does not conform to the basic empirical facts in real international politics; second, the international anarchy defined by waltz does not have the explanatory power to the real international politics as waltz himself expected; finally, the international anarchy defined by waltz largely determines the relevance of waltz's theory. Generally speaking, it is precisely because Waltz regards an international anarchy that has been artificially abstracted as his primary starting point for investigating the reality of international politics, so almost all the important propositions about international politics that Waltz drew from his concrete investigation of the structural effects of international politics have serious drawbacks, and the existence of these drawbacks greatly weakens the academic value of Waltz's theory.
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