Stephen Walt

Stephen Walt's project examines the mistakes that world leaders make when they ignore some enduring truths about world politics. Scholars of international relations have identified several simple theories and concepts to explain why states act as they do, yet world leaders often ignore or forget these ideas when conducting foreign policy, usually with unfortunate results. For example, national leaders often 1) underestimate the tendency for other states to balance against aggression, 2) forget that their attempts to make themselves more secure typically make others less secure, 3) understate the power of nationalism in other countries, and 4) are overly confident that they understand others’ motives and that their own actions are equally clear to their rivals. Taken together, these errors make conflict more likely and make wars harder to stop. Convincing leaders and publics to pay more attention to these simple ideas can help create a more peaceful world.