The Tragedy of Great Power Politics (Updated Edition)

John J. Mearsheimer

Jan 2003 · W. W. Norton & Company

About this ebook

"A superb book.…Mearsheimer has made a significant contribution to our understanding of the behavior of great powers."—Barry R. Posen, The National Interest The updated edition of this classic treatise on the behavior of great powers takes a penetrating look at the question likely to dominate international relations in the twenty-first century: Can China rise peacefully? In clear, eloquent prose, John Mearsheimer explains why the answer is no: a rising China will seek to dominate Asia, while the United States, determined to remain the world's sole regional hegemon, will go to great lengths to prevent that from happening. The tragedy of great power politics is inescapable.

Ratings and reviews

John Mearsheimer is as irrelevant as one can be. Mearsheimer is a true Russian genocidal apologist. Yet again we have another Putin apologist and supporter of "real politics" who suggests that Ukraine should have no agency, and it's the "big boys" who will decide for them. John Mearsheimer's views on the conflict. This myth of NATO expansion to old Warsaw Pact countries somehow threatens Putin's Russia, even though Putin himself has said that it has "no problem" with Finland joining NATO, adding some +1000km of NATO border with Russia.

About the author

John J. Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science and codirector of the Program on International Security Policy at the University of Chicago.