November 1, 2016

"The Valdai Discussion Club's 2016 forum convened in the Russian city of Sochi last week, where politicians and experts from 35 countries shared views on international issues. During the meeting, John Mearsheimer, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, harshly criticized America's Russia policy, saying that by antagonizing Russia, 'Americans have foolishly driven Russia in the arms of the Chinese.' He claimed Russia can choose to join in 'the balancing coalition against China' and expressed his hope that 'the United States will realize that bad relations with Russia is a bad idea.' In an article for the National Interest in 2014, Mearsheimer said most of Beijing's neighbors such as India, Japan, Russia, and Vietnam would join with the US to contain Chinese power. Mearsheimer is a leading exponent of offensive realist theory, and served in the US Air Force in the past. He is known for his book The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, in which he argues that power is the currency of great-power politics, great powers are determined largely on the basis of their relative military capability, and that a state's potential power is based on the size of its population and the level of its wealth. Hegemony, or absolute security, is 'the best way to ensure … security' and thus is relentlessly pursued by all major powers.

Mearsheimer's theory is not abstruse and is quite practical, operative and easy to understand. His comments in Valdai veered from the principle of value neutrality required for research fellows, and reflected Mearsheimer's concerns for great-power politics. "

Read more:

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1015253.shtml

NISCSS does not necessarily share in or endorse the opinions of off-site commentators.