New Statesman Weekend Interview
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I did the “Weekend Interview” (February 10, 2024) with The New Statesman.
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© 2024 John J. Mearsheimer
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I did the “Weekend Interview” (February 10, 2024) with The New Statesman.
No posts
Great interview. It didn't bug me at all, which is unusual.
In defense of the firing of the General, I would say that Lincoln fired more than a few before he got the "right" one (Truman too), so while I don't know that it won't lead to disaster, it isn't exactly unusual to get rid of a popular General
Russian economy. Can't say I'm surprised. Russia has solid leaders in this area, and I expect China is helping quite a bit too. I would prefer that they stopped the assistance, but Europe is applying pressure, which is good. I hope China gets stuck with a bunch of bad debts, but I don't think that will happen. Too bad. I would add that GDP doesn't mean much of anything in wartime. Russia is hurting, just not as much as most in the West would like.
The predicted power shortages in Western Europe have not come to fruition either. At least yet.
John, from someone who studied under Prof John Garnett of the at-the-time Realist Department of International Politics, Aberystwyth University.
You make it clear in your Great book that in the anarchy, there is uncertainty regarding states’ intentions [2001, pp30-1], and yet, when it comes to the Ukraine war, much of your opposition to the the West's position relies on "Putin has made it clear that he does not intend to conquer all of Ukraine".
You criticise UK & USA for threat inflation, and yet it has been for 3 decades the frontline states making the loudest siren calls, in line with Offensive Realist thinking: Great Powers (such as Russia) will seek to dominate their neighbours with their offensive military capabilities.
Not sure how you can't see that Iran is the pre-eminent Great Power in the Middle East, dominating as it does the entire Fertile Crescent and physically controlling most of it, even without the backing of its biggest oil customer (PRC) and biggest weapons customer (Russia).