Documentary Of The Week: Liberalism, Nationalism And Realism

by John Lounsbury

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This week we have a lecture by John J. Mearsheimer, the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago. Prof. Mearsheimer discusses how liberalism has been confronted by nationalism and realism. He asserts that liberalism has been defeated, at least temporarily, in this confrontation.

The start of this discussion introduces the contrast between two different views of humanity:

Humanity is composed of individuals who come together to form social contracts which form the framework for society.

Humanity is composed of a basic social framework within which individuals carve out their own living spaces.

Before listening to this lecture, I suggest you think about whether you can agree that these are two reasonable ways to summarize the possible ways society can be structured.

Secondly, think about whether one or the other of these views of society is more associated with liberalism. Just as an experiment, please write this opinion down. Later you can come back to this starting point and compare what you were thinking when you made this note with what you think after this lecture.

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.

John Joseph Mearsheimer (/ˈmɪərʃaɪmər/;[3] born December 14, 1947) is an American political scientist and international relations scholar, who belongs to the realist school of thought. He is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago.

Mearsheimer proposed the theory of offensive realism which describes the interaction between great powers as dominated by a rational desire to achieve hegemony in a world of insecurity and uncertainty regarding other states' intentions. He was a vocal opponent of the Iraq War in 2003 and was almost alone in opposing Ukraine's decision to give up its nuclear weapons in 1994 and predicted that, without a deterrent, they would face Russian aggression.

His most controversial views concern alleged influence by interest groups over US government actions in the Middle East which he wrote about in The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. In accordance with his theory, Mearsheimer considers that China's growing power will likely bring it into conflict with the United States. His work is frequently taught to and read by twenty-first century students of political science and international relations.

This video has a 3 minute introduction, a 55 minute lecture, and 27 minutes of Q&A. Very few will find anything about this lecture boring. If you are bored, I suggest you breathe on a mirror and check for fog.