{"id":3380,"date":"2026-03-07T19:54:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T19:54:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/?p=3380"},"modified":"2026-03-07T19:54:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T19:54:40","slug":"prof-john-mearsheimer%c2%b9-250-years-of-american-foreign-policy%c2%b2-3-march-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/?p=3380","title":{"rendered":"Prof. John Mearsheimer\u00b9: 250 years of American Foreign Policy\u00b2, 3 March 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How did the United States rise from a fragile collection of colonies to the dominant power in the international system, and what does that history reveal about today\u2019s great-power competition with China and Russia?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this conversation hosted by the University of Chicago Graham School, Prof. John J. Mearsheimer \u2013 one of the world\u2019s leading scholars of international relations theory and author of The Tragedy of Great Power Politics \u2013 examines 250 years of American foreign policy<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beginning with the founding, he contrasts the United States\u2019 liberal language of natural rights with the hard nationalism of a new state determined to secure its independence, expand across the continent, and keep rival powers out of the Western Hemisphere.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mearsheimer explains his theory of regional hegemony, reflects on the Monroe Doctrine and the Cuban Missile Crisis, and considers how the Civil War, British grand strategy, and the defeat of the Confederacy shaped America\u2019s rise. Along the way, he pushes back on claims of American exceptionalism, drawing on Reinhold Niebuhr\u2019s critique of national self-righteousness.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turning to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Mearsheimer traces U.S. foreign policy through the world wars, the Cold War, and the brief unipolar moment before the return of great-power rivalry with China and Russia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He examines competing post\u2013Cold War frameworks from Francis Fukuyama and Samuel Huntington, defends his own predictions about China’s rise \u2013 grounded in his theory of offensive realism \u2013 and explains why international relations theory is indispensable for statesmen and policymakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moderated by Graham School instructor Jennifer Lind, this conversation with Prof. John J. Mearsheimer connects 250 years of American foreign policy to the defining questions of our moment: the rise of China, the war in Ukraine, tensions with Iran, and the future of U.S. power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key questions explored in this conversation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 Is the Declaration of Independence really a liberal document or is it, as Mearsheimer argues, first and foremost a nationalist blueprint for American power?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 Why did the United States stay on the sidelines of both World Wars for so long and what does the strategy of buck-passing reveal about great powers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 What does 250 years of great-power politics tell us about an emerging US-China Cold War?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 How does Mearsheimer interpret the war in Ukraine, NATO enlargement, and the shifting alignments reshaping the Middle East?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 How do Francis Fukuyama’s End of History and Samuel Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations hold up against Mearsheimer’s realist predictions \u2013 and who got it right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapters<\/p>\n\n\n\n

00:00\u200b Introduction and opening remarks<\/p>\n\n\n\n

01:26\u200b “America at 250” with Jennifer Lind and John Mearsheimer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

02:20\u200b Liberal ideals and nationalism in the American founding<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8:11\u200b The Monroe Doctrine and regional hegemony<\/p>\n\n\n\n

14:48\u200b Civil War, British strategy, and American exceptionalism<\/p>\n\n\n\n

20:54\u200b World War I, World War II, and the strategy of buck-passing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

29:24\u200b Cold War security competition and ideology<\/p>\n\n\n\n

31:56\u200b Why international relations theory matters for strategy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

40:00\u200b The unipolar moment and the rise of China<\/p>\n\n\n\n

44:44\u200b End of History, Clash of Civilizations, and Tragedy of Great Power Politics<\/p>\n\n\n\n

49:22\u200b Q&A \u2013 Can allies share the burden of containing China?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

52:58\u200b Q&A \u2013 Iran, the Sunni-Shia split, and shifting alignments in the Middle East<\/p>\n\n\n\n

57:17\u200b Q&A \u2013 Mark Carney, middle powers, and U.S. economic and institutional leverage<\/p>\n\n\n\n

01:02:09\u200b Q&A \u2013 How much support should go to Ukraine, and who should provide it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

01:08:24\u200b Q&A \u2013 NATO enlargement, the origins of the Ukraine crisis, and risks for Eastern Europe<\/p>\n\n\n\n

01:18:51\u200b Closing reflections and thanks<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Speaker<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b9John Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago. He graduated from West Point and holds a PhD in political science from Cornell University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Mearsheimer has written extensively on security issues and international politics. Among his seven books, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics won the Joseph Leopold Book Prize and has been translated into many languages. His other works include The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy and The Great Delusion: Liberal Ideals and International Realities<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Graham School<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Graham School is the University of Chicago\u2019s home for lifelong learning, bringing UChicago\u2019s faculty and intellectual tradition to adult learners through programs in the Great Books, the liberal arts, and advanced leadership. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Courses are designed to sharpen critical thinking, deepen cultural understanding, and foster lively discussion among learners from all walks of life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the first university extension schools in the country, Graham has been part of the University since its founding in 1890.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How did the United States rise from a fragile collection of colonies to the dominant power in the international system, and what does that history reveal about today\u2019s great-power competition with China and Russia? In this conversation hosted by the University of Chicago Graham School, Prof. John J. Mearsheimer \u2013 one of the world\u2019s leading scholars of international relations theory and author of The Tragedy of Great Power Politics \u2013 examines 250 years of American foreign policy.  Beginning with the founding, he contrasts the United States\u2019 liberal language of natural rights with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3381,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-studies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3380","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=3380"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3380\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3382,"href":"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3380\/revisions\/3382"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geopoliticsamongstates.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}