A groundbreaking examination of a central question in international relations: Do states act rationally?
John J. Mearsheimer Book order
John J. Mearsheimer is a distinguished professor of political science whose work delves into the intricacies of international politics. He is renowned for his rigorous analysis of state power dynamics and their impact on global security. Mearsheimer's scholarship is characterized by a starkly realistic perspective, emphasizing the perpetual struggle for power and security within an anarchic international system. His critical approach to foreign policy and his theories on offensive realism have significantly shaped academic discourse.







- 2023
- 2018
The Great Delusion
- 328 pages
- 12 hours of reading
"In this major statement, the renowned international-relations scholar John Mearsheimer argues that liberal hegemony, the foreign policy pursued by the United States since the Cold War ended, is doomed to fail. It makes far more sense, he maintains, for Washington to adopt a more restrained foreign policy based on a sound understanding of how nationalism and realism constrain great powers abroad. It is widely believed in the West that the United States should spread liberal democracy across the world, foster an open international economy, and build institutions. This policy of remaking the world in America's image is supposed to protect human rights, promote peace, and make the world safe for democracy. But this is not what has happened. Instead, the United States has ended up as a highly militarized state fighting wars that undermine peace, harm human rights, and threaten liberal values at home. Mearsheimer tells us why this has happened"--Amazon.com.
- 2011
Presents an analysis of the lying behavior of political leaders, discussing the reasons why it occurs, the different types of lies, and the costs and benefits to the public and other countries that result from it, with examples from the recent past.
- 2010
Liddell Hart and the Weight of History
- 248 pages
- 9 hours of reading
This troubling book offers a striking illustration of how history can be used and abused-how a gifted individual can create their own self-serving version of the past.
- 2008
The Israel lobby is a loose coalition of right-wing individuals and organisations that actively works to shape U.S. foreign policy. Here, the authors claim that there is something deeply worrying about the Israel lobby's influence on U.S. foreign policy.
- 2001
The tragedy of Great Power politics
- 555 pages
- 20 hours of reading
"A superb book....Mearsheimer has made a significant contribution to our understanding of the behavior of great powers."― The National Interest , Barry R. Posen A decade after the cold war ended, policy makers and academics foresaw a new era of peace and prosperity, an era in which democracy and open trade would herald the "end of history." The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, sadly shattered these idyllic illusions, and John Mearsheimer's masterful new book explains why these harmonious visions remain utopian. To Mearsheimer, great power politics are tragic because the anarchy of the international system requires states to seek dominance at one another's expense, dooming even peaceful nations to a relentless power struggle. Mearsheimer illuminates his theory of offensive realism through a sweeping survey of modern great power struggles and reflects on the bleak prospects for peace in Europe and northeast Asia, arguing that the United States's security competition with a rising China will intensify regardless of "engagement" policies. "This is the definitive work on offensive realism."― Choice
- 1985
Conventional Deterrence
- 296 pages
- 11 hours of reading
Conventional Deterrence is a book about the origins of war. Why do nations faced with the prospect of large-scale conventional war opt for or against an offensive strategy? John J. Mearsheimer examines a number of crises that led to major conventional wars to explain why deterrence failed.
