Review Article: International Relations: State of the Field. Paul R. Viotti’s Kenneth Waltz: An Intellectual Biography (NY: Columbia University Press, 2023).

Authors

Damon ColettaFollow

Abstract

In this review essay, Damon Coletta examines Paul R. Viotti’s Kenneth Waltz: An Intellectual Biography (Columbia University Press, 2023), positioning it as both a tribute to and a reexamination of one of International Relations’ most influential theorists. Viotti, a former student of Waltz, reconstructs the intellectual development of structural realism—tracing its philosophical and methodological roots from Man, the State, and War (1959) to Theory of International Politics (1979)—while situating Waltz’s scholarship within the geopolitical and academic transformations of the Cold War era. Coletta highlights Viotti’s skillful balance between biography and disciplinary analysis, showing how Waltz’s systemic approach to international politics emerged from his wartime logistics experience, economic training, and skepticism toward reductionist explanations. The review underscores the continued relevance of Waltz’s ideas amid renewed great-power competition and evolving methodological debates. By chronicling both the man and the maturation of modern IR theory, Viotti’s biography, Coletta argues, reaffirms structural realism’s enduring role in shaping scholarly inquiry and strategic thought in the twenty-first century.

DOI

10.32873/uno.dc.sd.16.02.1326

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Coletta, Damon (2025) "Review Article: International Relations: State of the Field. Paul R. Viotti’s Kenneth Waltz: An Intellectual Biography (NY: Columbia University Press, 2023).," Space and Defense: Vol. 16: No. 2, Article 14.
DOI: 10.32873/uno.dc.sd.16.02.1326
Available at: https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/spaceanddefense/vol16/iss2/14