The sad fact is that international politics has always been a ruthless and dangerous business, and it is likely to remain that… — John Mearsheimer Business Copy Share Image
Survival should be the number one goal, states can have all sorts of goals that are deeply immoral or unethical. But that… — John Mearsheimer Goal Copy Share Image
Although the U.S.-Soviet rivalry was global in scope, its center of gravity was the Iron Curtain in Europe, where both sides had… — John Mearsheimer Air force Copy Share Image
People are allowed to have multiple loyalties. They have religious loyalties, loyalty to family, to an organization and you can have loyalty… — John Mearsheimer Family Copy Share Image
Just to focus on the Middle East... I think it is quite clear that, except for the Iran nuclear deal, under President… — John Mearsheimer Copy Share Image
When vital interests are at stake, countries are invariably willing to suffer great pain to ensure their security. There is no reason… — John Mearsheimer Cybersecurity Copy Share Image
Offensive realism predicts that the United States will send its army across the Atlantic when there is a potential hegemon in Europe… — John Mearsheimer Army Copy Share Image
Soviet foreign policy was influenced only on the margins by communist thinking; Joseph Stalin was a hardcore realist, as were his successors. — John Mearsheimer Foreign policy Copy Share Image
In the 1930s, Adolf Hitler believed that his great-power rivals would be easy to exploit and isolate because each had little interest… — John Mearsheimer Copy Share Image
Moscow cannot afford to lose in Ukraine, and it will use every means available to avoid defeat. Putin appears confident that Russia… — John Mearsheimer Copy Share Image
I think there's no question that a nuclear-armed Iran would bring stability to the region, because nuclear weapons are weapons of peace.… — John Mearsheimer Iran Copy Share Image
The reliability of the United States was not a serious problem during the Cold War, because the Soviet threat provided a powerful… — John Mearsheimer Cold Copy Share Image
A critically important issue when talking about America's terrorism problem is the matter of how U.S. support for Israel's brutal treatment of… — John Mearsheimer America Copy Share Image
Even if we somehow destroyed all of Iran's nuclear capability, they will simply rebuild it, in locations that are harder to find… — John Mearsheimer Copy Share Image
If history is any guide, most Afghans would oppose an American invasion and fight the foreign occupiers, probably with substantial help from… — John Mearsheimer Afghans Copy Share Image
Despite its huge population, booming economy and growing nuclear arsenal, President Clinton, like his predecessors, refuses to show India the respect it… — John Mearsheimer Allies Copy Share Image
Great-power politics is tragic because the structure of the international system forces states that seek only to be secure nonetheless to act… — John Mearsheimer Copy Share Image
Crimea, a casualty of the West's attempt to march NATO and the European Union up to Russia's doorstep, is surely lost for… — John Mearsheimer Crimea Copy Share Image
Since Lithuania is a NATO member, the United States would almost certainly come to its defense if Russia attacked the country. — John Mearsheimer Copy Share Image
I think you can look at the capabilities of a particular state, the military capabilities of a particular state, and that tells… — John Mearsheimer Copy Share Image
Even if Iran did have a nuclear weapons capability, they could not use that to blackmail the United States or to attack;… — John Mearsheimer Copy Share Image
The teaching of honest national history is especially important, since the teaching of false, chauvinist history is the main vehicle for spreading… — John Mearsheimer Education Copy Share Image
Erosion of sovereignty is one more reason a powerful state with a liberal foreign policy ends up fighting never ending wars and… — John Mearsheimer Copy Share Image
Overall, the best formula for maintaining stability in post-Cold War Europe is for all the great powers - including Germany and Ukraine… — John Mearsheimer Copy Share Image
Great powers react harshly when distant rivals project military power into their neighborhood, much less attempt to make a country on their… — John Mearsheimer Country Copy Share Image
When the United States worked to contain the Soviet Union during the Cold War, we went to enormous lengths to get as… — John Mearsheimer Cold Copy Share Image
The key to undoing the Taliban is to sow dissension within its ranks by offering carrots - bribes and positions in a… — John Mearsheimer Government Copy Share Image
States that teach a dishonestly self-exculpating or self-glorifying history should be publicly criticized and sanctioned. — John Mearsheimer Copy Share Image
The ideal situation for any state is to experience sharp economic growth while its rivals' economies grow slowly or hardly at all. — John Mearsheimer Copy Share Image
Normally the world's most powerful political ideology, nationalism had limited influence in the Soviet Union because it was at odds with communism.… — John Mearsheimer Communism Copy Share Image
You are going to have a situation where India and the United States, Vietnam and U.S., India-Japan, Australia-U.S. are all going to… — John Mearsheimer Coalition Copy Share Image
If Ukraine becomes a pro-American liberal democracy, and a member of NATO, and a member of the E.U., the Russians will consider… — John Mearsheimer Democracy Copy Share Image
Since the mid-1990s, Russian leaders have adamantly opposed NATO enlargement, and in recent years, they have made it clear that they would… — John Mearsheimer Copy Share Image
I'm a realist, and I thought from the get-go that NATO expansion was going to lead to one heck of a lot… — John Mearsheimer Copy Share Image
Because there is no world government to protect states from one another, major powers are acutely sensitive to threats - especially near… — John Mearsheimer Government Copy Share Image
The U.S., over the course of the 1990s and the first decade-and-a-half of the 2000s, went to great places to make China… — John Mearsheimer China Copy Share Image
Nuclear weapons are the ideal middle-class weapons for Americans. They provide massive amounts of deterrence on the cheap. — John Mearsheimer Copy Share Image
In fact, as soon as it declared independence, Ukraine should have been quietly encouraged to fashion its own nuclear deterrent. — John Mearsheimer Fashion Copy Share Image
The liberal tradition has its roots in the Enlightenment, that period in the eighteenth-century Europe when intellectuals and political leaders had a… — John Mearsheimer Better place Copy Share Image
As we learned during the Cold War, the presence of massive nuclear arsenals does not stop great powers from worrying about conventional… — John Mearsheimer Cold war Copy Share Image
