Kenneth Waltoz's quote about the origins of war

“The source of war is human nature—the selfishness in it, aimless ferocity, and certainly human stupidity.”

—Kenneth Waltz

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Know source and context of the Quote.

You have asked about the source, context, and original English version of a Bengali quotation attributed to Kenneth Waltz. The search results indicate that this is a paraphrased version of an idea from his seminal 1959 book, Man, the State, and War .

📖 Source and Original English Version

The quotation you provided captures the essence of what Waltz calls the "first image" of international relations. The most direct English source for this idea can be found in Chapter II of Man, the State, and War, where Waltz summarizes this level of analysis.

Original English Quote:

"According to the first image of international relations, the locus of the important causes of war is found in the nature and behavior of man. Wars result from selfishness, from misdirected aggressive impulses, from stupidity." 

🧠 Intellectual Context: The "Three Images"

This quote comes from Kenneth Waltz's influential framework for analyzing the causes of war. A professor at Columbia and Berkeley, Waltz is a founder of neorealism in international relations theory . In Man, the State, and War, he argues that explanations for war can be categorized into three distinct levels of analysis, which he calls "images" .

· The First Image: Human Nature: This level argues that war is rooted in human behavior. As the original quote states, it focuses on flaws like selfishness, aggression, and poor judgment. Waltz explores this by examining philosophers like Spinoza and Rousseau . He ultimately sees this level as too simplistic because "human nature is so complex that it can justify every hypothesis" .

· The Second Image: The Internal Structure of States: This level looks at a state's domestic politics, economy, or ideology as the cause of war. For example, theories that blame capitalism or claim democracies are more peaceful fall under this image .

· The Third Image: International Anarchy: This is the most important level for Waltz. It argues that war is ultimately caused by the lack of a higher authority above sovereign states. In this "anarchic" system, war is always a possibility because "there is nothing to prevent it" .

In short, your quotation perfectly encapsulates Waltz's first image of war, which he presents alongside his more systemic third-image argument.

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