A Conversation with Kenneth Waltz

Kenneth Waltz's books and articles have definitively shaped the study of international relations over the past fifty years. He developed a version of “Realist” thinking on the subject that has structured research in the entire field, for critics and supporters alike. On March 11, 2011, at his home in New York, he was interviewed by James Fearon, a member of the Editorial Committee of the Annual Review of Political Science. The conversation ranged over some of his best-known arguments and the relationships between them, his thinking about contemporary international politics, and issues in the field that he thinks are understudied relative to their importance. What follows is an edited transcript of that conversation. A video of the entire conversation is available online.