Pictured above is John Joseph Mearsheimer. He’s known for his work on offensive realism. He has written multiple publications, including the noted book “The Tragedy of Great Power Politics.
Background of John Mearsheimer
John Joseph Mearsheimer was born in 1947 in Brooklyn, New York. He’s known as the founder of offensive realism. Mearsheimer was heavily influenced by Kenneth Waltz, who is known as the founder of the paradigm of international relations called realism (Munro, Britannica). Much like Waltz, Mearsheimer believes that within international politics, there is anarchy. As Mearshimer defines it, there is “no government above governments.” Essentially, there is no supreme power that rules over states’ actions. This anarchy results not in a constant state of war, but of a state of “relentless security competition” between states, often leading to war (Mearsheimer, 1994:10). Additionally, according to Mearsheimer, nation-states all have offensive military capabilities, however, different states have different military capabilities. This gives states the ability to use their military capabilities to destroy each other if need be (Mearsheimer, 2002:17). With the military capabilities that states have, mixed with the anarchy within the international political system, states are unable to be certain of other states’ intentions. A state’s main motive is survival, which causes the security dilemma.
Differences Between Mearsheimer and Waltz
Unlike Waltz’s defensive realism, Mearsheimer claims that a state’s need for security to survive will drive it to act as aggressive power maximizers instead of having defensive tendencies (Mearsheimer, 2002:19-20). Meaning, when a state sees another state building up its military capabilities, Mearsheimer concludes, “it is rational for [states] to attempt to preempt possible acts of aggression by increasing their military might and adopting an assertive position whenever their core security interests are at stake”(Munro, Britannica). This vicious cycle will reach its boiling point when states feel threatened enough by each other that it may force their hand to go to war. Anarchy causes states to act aggressively toward each other as a means of gaining more power in order to reach ultimate hegemony, which ensures ultimate security. By becoming the hegemon, or the strongest state, other states won’t attack
Mearsheimer on International Institutions
Much like the paradigm of realism, liberalism states that the international system contains anarchy. However, liberals believe that a way to solve the issue that anarchy brings is to create an international institution that can serve as the power above governments to hold states accountable for their actions. Realists think that this solution is not only unrealistic but will likely make the issue of competition for security even worse. Mearsheimer believes that institutions aren’t solving the issues that anarchy creates. Although states are supposed to be held accountable, there is no real higher authority that will enforce consequences for their actions (Mearsheimer, 1994:11). Additionally, Mearsheimer believes that every state is trying to reach hegemony. States will do whatever it takes to reach ultimate power, and in doing so it may lead to states trying to taking advantage of other states. Additionally, Mearsheimer believes that states are less likely to cooperate with each other because of relative gains. This means that no state believes in equal gain, rather that one state will always gain more than the other. He disagrees that International organizations like the UN will promote peace through cooperation because “cooperation is more difficult to achieve when states are attuned to relative gains logic”(Mearsheimer, 1994:12). This plays into the freeriding dilemma within international institutions. There is no accountability when humanitarian aid is asked for among other states. The priority of each state is to gain as much as possible. If all states were to cooperate some would be less likely to participate, therefore benefiting gains from the other participating states without any type of inputs. This is why states don’t see international institutions as a realistic option for promoting peace. Additionally, Mearsheimer mentions that institutions such as the UN reflect only the great powers’ interests, therefore it is not used to promote peace, but rather for nation-states to use their power for personal gain and control of lesser states.
Example of Mearsheimer’s Theory
A historical example that supports Mearsheimer’s theory of offensive realism is Germany between the years 1871 and 1903. During the period of 1871 to 1900, Germany was not an aggressive state because if they tried to expand any further beyond its boundaries, they would have “triggered a great power war that Germany would lose” (Snyder, 2002:159). At that point Germany accepted that they were not powerful enough to challenge the status quo of the hegemon at the time. However in 1903, Germany had the potential to become the hegemon as Germany had both more “Wealth and more power than any other European state” (Snyder, 2002:159). Much like Mearsheimer’s theory suggests, when Germany had enough military capabilities to challenge other European states, it started to act aggressively toward the European states. This reached the point where the great powers of Germany and its allies became such a threat to Germany’s rival countries of England, France, and Russia that World War I resulted in order to prevent Germany from becoming the regional hegemon of Europe. These aggressive actions of the European countries were a means to ensuring survival by aligning with as many states as possible.
Questions to think about:
—————————————The Tragedy of Great Power———————
How might Mearsheimer explain World War One?
————————————International Security———————————
According to Mearsheimer, what are international institutions? How do realists view international institutions?
According to the author, what are the limitations of liberal approaches to international institutions?
—————————————General Questions———————————
Why do nation-states go to war?
Can international institutions promote peace?
Additional Info Resource:
If you would like to read more about Mearscheimer’s work, his website provided here is the perfect resource https://mearsheimer.uchicago.edu/
Munro, André. “John J. Mearsheimer.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 30 May 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/John-Mearsheimer.
Mearsheimer, John J. “The False Promise of International Institutions.” International Security, vol. 19, no. 3, 1994, pp. 5–49.JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2539078.
Mearsheimer, John J. “Tragedy of Great Power Politics.” WW Norton & Co, 2002, pp. 1–37.
Snyder, Glenn H. “Mearsheimer’s World-Offensive Realism and the Struggle for Security: A Review Essay.” International Security, vol. 27, no. 1, 2002, pp. 149–173. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3092155.
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written by Carlos and Vaughn
