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When I discovered John Mearsheimer very many years ago it was a revelation. I saw he was the first writer I had read who understood geopolitics now in the way AJP Taylor understood it in the 19th and 20th centuries.
In this very insightful essay from last month he says a peace is not possible because both sides now have maximalist objectives and the result will be Ukraine as a rump state. He blames the Americans for leading Ukraine to this, something he and Kissinger warned the world about many years ago. Of course Putin alone is to blame for the war but of course Mearsheimer is right. As Kissinger said, to be America's friend is fatal.
That goes for other countries besides Ukraine.
I didn't imagine I'd see a worse American President than Bush the Younger but today I decided that Joe Biden is even worse.
What citeria do you use for your strange imaginings?
ReplyDeleteThe light of natural reason.
ReplyDeleteI think you need a new bulb
ReplyDeleteI am glad I stimulate you to comment - you know my name, what is yours?
ReplyDeleteThe economy is doing better here in the US, the culture wars seem to be calming down, and many of us are relieved that Trump is no longer president. Ukraine is a matter of mild concern, but not top of mind. Biden may be old, but some of us are OK with him -- we experience his leadership firsthand and not obsessively thousands of miles away.
ReplyDeleteWhilst ignoring the pandering to hatred and division of previous POTUS. Trump has no policies, he is a vainglorious failure.
Delete"I think there are two things going on. The first is that there has been a major shift in the global balance of power. As you said, for a long time we were very powerful. We might think we could run around the world dictating to people how they should behave. This world is gone. The unipolar moment has given way to multipolarity. And now we have three great powers in the system. Not only the US, but also China and Russia. But secondly, when you talk about soft power, about our ability to use our ideology to positively influence people, to try to sell liberal democracy in a subtle way, to portray the US as a beneficent force in the world – we used to be very good at this, but we lost this skill. And as a result, we look very tough. People all over the planet think that the US behaves like bandits most of the time." Professor John Mearsheimer
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