The normative problem of nuclear war in the thought of Kenneth Waltz and John Mearsheimer

Kenneth Waltz and John Mearsheimer are the two most important exponents of the International Relations theory of Structural Realism. A key epistemological component of structural realism is its rejection of normative advocacy, as this is both unscientific and also pointless. I show how both scholars have been unable to adhere to this rule on the question of nuclear war, and how this threatens the logic of their theorising.