ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the international level and present evidence that similarly inequality is connected to interstate wars. Kenneth Waltz in Theory of International Politics discusses balance of power and inequality as the core of his argument about the causes of stability among nations and war. Internally, inequality is an important part of the political story, though far from being the whole of it. Hegemony has been discussed as a possible cause of war from two angles: first, is has been argued that hegemony contributes to increased risk of war as the imbalance in the international system leads to the weaker states trying to challenge the dominant state. On the other hand, it has been proposed that hegemonies are very stable systems as it is difficult for weaker states to challenge the hegemon due to the immense power differential. Johan Galtung suggested that rank discrepant states are more likely to participate in wars than rank equal states.
