{"id":1716,"date":"2025-05-01T14:15:40","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T14:15:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/?p=1716"},"modified":"2025-05-01T14:15:40","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T14:15:40","slug":"professor-mearsheimer-on-iran-pete-hegseth-the-foreign-policy-blob%c2%b9-the-spectator-30-april-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/?p=1716","title":{"rendered":"Professor Mearsheimer on Iran, Pete Hegseth &amp; the foreign policy blob\u00b9, THE SPECTATOR, 30 April 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Professor John Mearsheimer and Freddy Gray discuss Donald Trump\u2019s foreign policy during his second term, focusing on the Middle East and U.S. relations with Iran.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They look at Trump&#8217;s instincts versus execution, divisions within the administration, diplomacy with Iran, and the broader geopolitical stakes involving Russia, Israel, and China.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"&#x1f989;\" src=\"https:\/\/fonts.gstatic.com\/s\/e\/notoemoji\/16.0\/1f989\/32.png\">________________<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"&#x1f989;\" src=\"https:\/\/fonts.gstatic.com\/s\/e\/notoemoji\/16.0\/1f989\/32.png\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1.&nbsp;<strong>blob<\/strong>: The term &#8220;blob&#8221; refers to the U.S. foreign policy establishment, a group that often operates in ways that diverge from public opinion.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Both Barack Obama and Donald Trump encountered resistance from the blob when they attempted to shift U.S. foreign policy away from interventionism.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite their efforts, the blob&#8217;s influence remained strong, as Prof. Mearsheimer discussed in a recent interview:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[John Mearsheimer:&nbsp;What\u2019s Behind Biden\u2019s Blank Check Support for Israel?&nbsp;| Endgame #179 (Luminaries)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>March 21, 2024. Gita Wirjawan<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"John Mearsheimer:\u00a0What\u2019s Behind Biden\u2019s Blank Check Support for Israel? | Endgame #179 (Luminaries)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/39_bpaaio1U?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The term &#8220;blob&#8221; is a somewhat derogatory label for the entrenched foreign policy establishment in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp; &nbsp;This group includes policymakers, think tanks, and media figures who advocate for a particular set of interventionist policies.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Despite public opinion often favoring less intervention abroad, the blob tends to push for continued U.S. involvement in global conflicts and nation-building efforts.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both Barack Obama and Donald Trump attempted to challenge this establishment. Obama, for instance, criticized the focus on nation-building abroad and advocated for a shift towards domestic priorities.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Similarly, Trump campaigned on reducing U.S. military interventions, highlighting his presidency as a period without new wars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;However,&nbsp;<strong>both presidents found it challenging to overcome the blob&#8217;s influence, which often dictates the continuity of U.S. foreign policy regardless of the administration in power.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This dynamic underscores the significant gap between public sentiment and the actions of the foreign policy elite, as I have discussed in various interviews and writings.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/c7JFCx4-4tE?si=sBeUhXPgqzd35o1l\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/c7JFCx4-4tE?si=sBeUhXPgqzd35o1l<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Professor John Mearsheimer and Freddy Gray discuss Donald Trump\u2019s foreign policy during his second term, focusing on the Middle East and U.S. relations with Iran.&nbsp; They look at Trump&#8217;s instincts versus execution, divisions within the administration, diplomacy with Iran, and the broader geopolitical stakes involving Russia, Israel, and China.&nbsp; ________________ 1.&nbsp;blob: The term &#8220;blob&#8221; refers to the U.S. foreign policy establishment, a group that often operates in ways that diverge from public opinion.&nbsp; Both Barack Obama and Donald Trump encountered resistance from the blob when they attempted to shift U.S.&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":878,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-offensiverealism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1716"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1717,"href":"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1716\/revisions\/1717"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}