Despite his advocacy of a systemic theory of international relations, Kenneth Waltz(1959: 188) frequently applies the analogy between man and the state as proof of the hostile reality that he observes in the anar chical system as a whole: "lalmong men as among states there is no auto matic adjustment of interests. In the absence of a supreme authority there is then the constant possibility that conflicts will be solved by force'. Reductionist arguments explaining international conflict through conceptions of'evil' human nature are frequently used in realist International Relations, Hans Morgenthau argued that the objective national interest' is rooted deeply in human nature and thus, in the actions of statesmen(Tickner 1988). Even the neo-realist Waltz(1959: 238), who prefers systemic explanations, embraces Alexander Hamilton polemic set forth in the Federalist Papers to presume a lack of hostile motives among states is to forget that men are ambitious, vindictive and rapacious." The upshot of this man/state analogy for feminist analysis,