– Discussion¹
Are states rational?
Much of international relations theory assumes that they are.
But many scholars believe that political leaders rarely act rationally.
John J. Mearsheimer will argue that rational decisions in international politics rest on credible theories about how the world works and emerge from deliberative decisionmaking processes.
Using these criteria, he will describe how most states are rational most of the time, even if they are not always successful, and will discuss implications for formulating foreign policy.
Join Mearsheimer and Ashley Tellis, a scholar with extensive policy experience, for a discussion of whether states behave rationally.1. https://www.youtube.com/live/l3sPXKW_t9c?si=ZNbxWV2Z5IkDB39J
– Book Talk: How States Think: The Rationality of Foreign Policy, Yale University Press 2023²
It has become a familiar trope of Western writing on current affairs to accuse opponents of the West of “irrationality” or even insanity.
In domestic debates on US foreign policy, it is also common to see policies of which the commentator disapproves described as irrational.
The result all too often is to limit debate on the real issues and interests involved. To discuss this issue and make the case for the basic rationality of most state foreign and security policies, Anatol Lieven was joined by Professor John Mearsheimer, renowned scholar of international relations and author, with Sebastian Rosato, of the groundbreaking How States Think: The Rationality of Foreign Policy (Yale University Press 2023)³.
2. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xkhp6iSUhGM
3. Attached, the full transcript of webinar :
