Ukraine, Taiwan and The True Cause of War | John Mearsheimer

In this conversation, John speaks with political scientist and international relations scholar Professor John Mearsheimer about the recent war in Ukraine, and the potential for conflict in Taiwan. Mearsheimer argues for what he calls ’offensive realism’, which holds that conflicts between states are driven by the need to maximize power in relation to other states. This is in contrast to the heterodox liberal framework, which Mearsheimer contends was only tenable under the recently ended ‘unipolar’ era. Using this framework, Mearsheimer famously predicted the recent Russian invasion, arguing that it was an inevitable outcome of NATO’s eastward expansion. The discussion also turns to the situation in Taiwan and why a conflict in Asia may be more likely than a European conflict during the new Cold War. This is an important, thought-provoking, and at times controversial discussion—essential viewing for anyone trying to understand the confusing and tumultuous geopolitical climate we find ourselves in. John J. Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, where he has taught since 1982. He graduated from West Point in 1970 and then served five years as an officer in the U.S. Air Force. He then started graduate school in political science at Cornell University in 1975. He received his Ph.D. in 1980. He spent the 1979-1980 academic year as a research fellow at the Brookings Institution, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University’s Centre for International Affairs from 1980 to 1982. During the 1998-1999 academic year, he was the Whitney H. Shepardson Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. His recent and most notable works include, “The Tragedy of Great Power Politics“ (2001), “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy“ (2007), and “Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities“ (2018). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 00:00 Intro 00:54 Introducing John Mearsheimer 1:50 What is realism? 4:20 Does realism = ’might makes right’ 6:49 Were America’s actions wise after WW2? 9:40 Domestic vs International politics 11:13 Why Liberalism needs nationalism 14:30 Why the U.S. should work with Russia against China 19:15 How John predicted Russia’s invasion 26:00 America’s failed Democratic export to Russia 31:05 Why in 2017 liberal foreign policy died - Unipolar vs Multipolar 33:44 The war in Ukraine is a vestige of American Hegemony 35:09 What makes a multipolar world so dangerous 38:40 American willpower 39:05 The U.S. defends Taiwan 42:45 Does America have the capacity? 45:48 The role of military technology and the quantity/quality trade off 50:30 Free enterprise vs Central command in war time 54:37 How the foreign policy establishment defeated both Trump and Obama 1:02:00 Can we avoid a war with China?“ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conversations feature John Anderson, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, interviewing the world’s foremost thought leaders about today’s pressing social, cultural and political issues. John believes proper, robust dialogue is necessary if we are to maintain our social strength and cohesion. As he puts it; “You cannot get good public policy out of a bad public debate.“ If you value this discussion and want to see more like it, make sure you subscribe to the channel here: And stay right up to date with all the conversations by subscribing to the newsletter here: Follow John on X(Twitter): Follow John on Facebook: Follow John on Instagram: Support the channel: Website: Podcast: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- John Mearsheimer Socials X(Twitter): Website: