Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
For more than four decades, Professor John J. Mearsheimer, from his position at the University of Chicago, has examined global power and America’s role in the world—often challenging traditional assumptions and language, and creating debate about the aspirations of great powers.
He has suggested that nuclear weapons can enhance stability among nations and that the power of international institutions is limited. He has used the term “offensive realism” to argue that power is the critical factor in relationships among nations, largely setting aside moral considerations.
Mearsheimer has written articles and books that have provoked controversy, especially The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.
Other books include: The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities, Why Leaders Lie, Conventional Deterrence, Nuclear Deterrence, and Liddell Hart and the Weight of History.
This is an important moment to consider the exercise of power—both militarily and economically—as war continues in Iran and Ukraine, and threats to sovereignty emerge elsewhere.
We will consider many issues, including the status of the war in Iran, the possibilities of regime change, how to end the war, the strategies of the United States, Israel, and Iran, the competition between the U.S. and China, the U.S. and Russia, Europe and Russia, what might happen in Cuba and Latin America, and the nature of war itself as drones increasingly dominate warfare in Ukraine and Iran.
Professor John Mearsheimer joins us from the University of Chicago.
For more than four decades, Professor John J. Mearsheimer, from his position at the University of Chicago, has examined global power and America’s role in the world—often challenging traditional assumptions and language, and creating debate about the aspirations of great powers.
He has suggested that nuclear weapons can enhance stability among nations and that the power of international institutions is limited. He has used the term “offensive realism” to argue that power is the critical factor in relationships among nations, largely setting aside moral considerations.
Mearsheimer has written articles and books that have provoked controversy, especially The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.
Other books include: The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities, Why Leaders Lie, Conventional Deterrence, Nuclear Deterrence, and Liddell Hart and the Weight of History.
This is an important moment to consider the exercise of power—both militarily and economically—as war continues in Iran and Ukraine, and threats to sovereignty emerge elsewhere.
We will consider many issues, including the status of the war in Iran, the possibilities of regime change, how to end the war, the strategies of the United States, Israel, and Iran, the competition between the U.S. and China, the U.S. and Russia, Europe and Russia, what might happen in Cuba and Latin America, and the nature of war itself as drones increasingly dominate warfare in Ukraine and Iran.
Professor John Mearsheimer joins us from the University of Chicago.
