17 Comments

Good interview. I wish that John would stop saying that China is an existential threat to the US tho.

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Russia had a choice following the Soviet collapse. go it alone or join,, enthusiastic or not, the western world. they, particularly Putin, chose to go it alone.

Turn the clock forward 20 years, Putin chose the latter, has set himself up as a national mafia boss (-in-chief) and embarked on a program of foreign (Africa through Wagner) destabilization, murder (anyone he dislikes anywhere in the world) and conquest - how many wars has he fought in what was the former Soviet Empire.

Sadly, Putin cannot be trusted to abide by any agreement under any circumstances.

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"Joining" the Western world is not as simple as that. It would effectively mean ceding sovereignty to the United States just like the rest of Europe has more or less done.

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Dr Mearcheimer is absolutely the greatest geopolitical thinker in the world.

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As always, Dr. M is spectacularly incisive. The host unfortunately, is either extremely naive or a moron.

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founding

A master class in IR. Dr. Mearsheimer, what or who drove you to start your Substack at this time?

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Great interview. Perhaps your most personal one, thanks to Lex's naivety -being it real or performed for the case. Today I'm exactly 73 and I share all your points on enjoying life, job and fear of having to quit them. Greetings from your Catalan admirer and translator. Toni.

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Professor,

What was the process of getting to the podcast? Did Lex approach you first? Were there any topics not to be discussed or was it a free flowing conversation without any restrictions?

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Couldn't agree more with all the people saying that this is an outstanding interview.

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His talk of all these countries engaging in intercourse makes me very uncomfortable

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I gotta read John’s books. Terribly interesting stuff. How is the US “wealthy” if we are the #1 debtor nation? How are we so powerful when neocons have exposed our stupidity in front of the world so many times over 50 + yrs, particularly over the last 20 ?

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Lex is incredibly boring, but you did a great job!

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John, are you merely stupid, or in fact dishonest?

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I just don’t like Lex.

He’s useless.

Prefer The Duran

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It is so difficult for Americans to understand the state of anarchy because we are used to assuming the role of "world police". We need more realists like Mearsheimer involved with US foreign policy decisions.

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Well worth the 3 1/2 hours! Have seen too much of short clips of John's wisdom, it was very helpful to watch a long form where he was given an opportunity to cover many areas in depth.

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absolutely brilliant interview! perfect match of interviewer and interviewee. thank you for sharing your wisdom, JJM!

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