James Taranto notes the publication of an academic paper by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt on the influence of the Israel lobby on U.S. foreign policy. I haven't read it, but it sounds fairly ridiculous, as evidenced by the quick endorsement of white supremacist David Duke.
I had to laugh when I saw this story because I've long thought Mearsheimer lives in a reality-free existence, having run across his readings in a political science class two years ago. While you can check out a decent summary of his beliefs here, essentially he sees international relations as a struggle for power. That democracies never go to war with each other he believes to be a coincidence. Normative values, in his opinion, have no impact on relations between countries.
I find this so self-evidently wrong that it boggles my mind.
Oh, and Mearsheimer believes that trading with China is a counter-productive policy that is only serving to build up a likely adversary. While I suppose there is a case to be made that there is a coming conflict with Beijing, to argue that this is inevitable simply because two great powers must inevitably clash strikes me as bizarre.
Yet one of his books is a required reading for students of international relations theory -- which is a big reason I don't study IR anymore.
I had to laugh when I saw this story because I've long thought Mearsheimer lives in a reality-free existence, having run across his readings in a political science class two years ago. While you can check out a decent summary of his beliefs here, essentially he sees international relations as a struggle for power. That democracies never go to war with each other he believes to be a coincidence. Normative values, in his opinion, have no impact on relations between countries.
I find this so self-evidently wrong that it boggles my mind.
Oh, and Mearsheimer believes that trading with China is a counter-productive policy that is only serving to build up a likely adversary. While I suppose there is a case to be made that there is a coming conflict with Beijing, to argue that this is inevitable simply because two great powers must inevitably clash strikes me as bizarre.
Yet one of his books is a required reading for students of international relations theory -- which is a big reason I don't study IR anymore.
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