Session 4: The Good, the Bad and the Human.

In the introductory chapter of his book 'Man, the State and War', Kenneth N. Waltz puts forth a few important questions regarding the causes of war and achievement of peace. He divides the theories of the causes of war into three ‘images’: the man, the state and  the international system. The first ‘image’ highlights the ideas of Classical Realism which suggests that wars are brought about by men as leaders who are shaped by their surroundings and then in turn dictate the actions of their state. The second ‘image’ argues that the main reason for war lies in the defected political nature of the states. Lastly, the third ‘image’ blames the anarchic structure of the international system as the root cause of war.

Having gone over the aforementioned levels of analysis, presented by Waltz as the reasons for men or states going on war, one could conclude that the main reason for the prevalence of instability across the globe actually lies in the sense of insecurity that harbours within the social and political systems. The chapter points out ideas of the philosopher Rousseau who claims that  man is neither good, nor bad. In fact he is shaped by his surroundings; the society. The society here, may act as a ‘degrading’ or a ‘moralizing’ agent. It is crucial to add here that a bad society does not necessarily result in bad humans, and vice versa. In fact, as rightly pointed out in a later part of the chapter, man needs some reassurance that other men aground him will not harm him in order for him to be ‘good’ to others too. Similarly, the internal and international system of states also need a certain sense of assurance that they will not be ruined by others. However, as in the state of anarchy that exists in the international system, one state always feels threatened by another which may use force to achieve its ends; social, economic or political. There is no automatic harmony. The power to attack and the constant fear of being attacked by another state shapes the internal structure of the state which again disrupts the ‘peace’ among the society within the state and leads the man as an individual to be cautious of his surroundings too.

To summarize and conclude, it would be right to quote President Dwight Eisenhower.

“Now people don't want conflict - people in general. It is only, I think, mistaken leaders that grow too belligerent and believe that people really want to fight."

Bascially, a threat and sense of insecurity at the macro (international) level trickles down to the micro (individual) level and translates into the ‘bad’ or ‘evil’ actions of man.