Thursday, June 02, 2022

John Mearsheimer: Great Powers, U.S. Hegemony, and the Rise of China — Manifold Podcast #13

 


This interview with John Mearsheimer was conducted in 2020 on the original Manifold podcast with Corey Washington and Steve Hsu. Parts of the conversation are prescient with respect to US-China relations and the situation in Ukraine. 

John Joseph Mearsheimer is an American political scientist and international relations scholar, who belongs to the realist school of thought. He is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago. He has been described as the most influential realist of his generation. 

Mearsheimer is best known for developing the theory of offensive realism, which describes the interaction between great powers as being primarily driven by the rational desire to achieve regional hegemony in an anarchic international system. In accordance with his theory, Mearsheimer believes that China's growing power will likely bring it into conflict with the United States. 

Steve, Corey, and John discuss: 

0:00 A quick message for listeners 
1:21 Introduction 
2:39 Realist foreign policy worldview 
15:46 Proxy conflicts and the U.S. 
21:31 U.S. history: a moral hegemon, or just a hegemon? Zinn and Chomsky 
29:50 U.S.-China relationship, competing hegemonies? 
36:44 Will Europe become more united? 
41:23 China’s ambitions 
46:12 Europe’s fragmentation and population trends 
47:57 What drove U.S. interventions after the Cold War? 
51:36 Coalitions and U.S.-China competition 

Resources: John Mearsheimer - https://www.mearsheimer.com/ 

The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities - https://www.amazon.com/Great-Delusion-Liberal-International-Realities-ebook/dp/B07H3XRPQS

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