Professor John Mearsheimer from the University of Chicago discusses Structural Realism
(Part 1 of 7)
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I wonder when these people will learn the lesson these fights to be mighty and powerful are a waste of energy and resources.
Instead of this should be a global cooperation to improve living standards for all the people, protect the environment and especially educate human mind in the spirit of ethics, rational mindfulness and cooperation.
The era of :lets see who is more powerful should be the past as well as who is the richer person. I would put a cap on how much money a person can have lets say 20 million, and all the fights will cool off. The greed of corporations and CEO will be stoped and the salaries will rise. Money can be invested in projects which serves everyone: keep the planet clean, waste management, education.
For this the brains of the leaders should evolve.
This guy is delusional and probably wishes he could be Putin.
I was never really trustful of human beans.
Same here an 1:1 IR ,need this for exam
Have an amazing academic. Have an exam in an hour , h simplified my task
Structures, architecture, and makeup and composition
I'm there
Who is here in 2025??? I've got an exam and in trying to better understand realism theory, I stumbled on this material. Thank you so much..
Absolutely true
3 minutes in, I would contrast that with the concerns of 🇨🇦 and 🇲🇽 regarding the giant in between us. Both countries utterly rely upon the good will of the US and on being seen as a friend. As a 🇨🇦 I know there's nothing we could do to stop the 🇺🇸 from invading if they really wanted to.
The one major fallacy the 🇺🇸 has to worry about is, what happens if I overplay my power. Sure, They could take Mexico and Canada. But then we'd see a massive buildup of forces in South America centered on 🇧🇷. Europe, Japan, Australia, and NZ would also distance themselves. Basically, Athens was the big boy, until their allies were turned into vassal states, of which many eventually joined Sparta in destroying Athens. This is a lesson that Putin is currently learning, and one that Trump hopefully avoids.
"Structural realism, or neorealism, is a key theory in international relations that emphasizes the anarchic nature of the international system as a primary factor influencing state behavior. Developed by Kenneth Waltz, structural realism posits that the absence of a central authority in global politics forces states to act in their own self-interest to survive and maintain power. This leads to a self-help system where security and power are paramount, and states are constantly assessing the balance of power to ensure their own security.
Unlike classical realism, which emphasizes human nature as the driver of state behavior, structural realism focuses on the structure of the international system itself as the determining factor. States are considered rational actors who seek to maximize their security in an environment where other states may have competing interests. This theory explains why nations engage in alliances, build military capabilities, or adopt defensive and offensive strategies, often irrespective of ideological or moral considerations.
Critics of structural realism argue that it overlooks the role of domestic politics, international institutions, and the potential for cooperation among states. However, its enduring relevance lies in its capacity to provide a framework for understanding the competitive and power-centric dynamics of global politics. As we face new challenges such as the rise of China, the reassertion of Russia, and shifting alliances, structural realism continues to offer valuable insights into why states behave the way they do and what drives their actions on the world stage.
I don’t necessarily disagree with his thesis, but in my opinion, people can get caught up in trying to find one theory that can sum up international relations, when it is very likely that both main schools of realism are true to some extent. I don’t find human nature and international structure to be mutually exclusive. I also subscribe to many principles of liberalism. From what I’ve learned, realism tends to describe how countries have tended to act in history, and liberalism describes how states should act in an ideal, efficient system. Essentially realism is more descriptive and liberalism is more instructional (couldn’t think of a better word). IR seems to only be able to explain why states have done/are doing things. Because of how broad IR is and how many factors can impact states’ actions (and that each nation’s actions/reactions can have a domino effect on one another), it becomes nearly impossible to predict any major changes before they happen. (And also that random factors cannot really be predicted; i.e. plagues, natural disasters, etc.). However, there are some glaring exceptions. The one that always comes to my mind is JM Keynes predicting the Great Depression and another large scale conflict in Europe decades before they happened very much as he described. So I guess you either have to be lucky or a genius to predict IR. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
Clear concept. Really exapmlery.
Thank you Dr mearsheimer
🎯 Key points for quick navigation:
00:07 🌍 Structural realism overview
– States' behaviors are primarily shaped by the anarchic structure of the international system.
– States seek power to ensure security in a system where there's no higher authority.
– Example: The United States' dominance in the Western hemisphere ensures its security.
01:03 🏛️ Security and power dynamics
– An anarchic international system compels states to pursue power for self-preservation.
– Vulnerability of weaker states in the absence of a higher authority fosters security competition.
– Importance of power to deter aggression and ensure survival in international relations.
03:22 🤔 Realism: human nature vs. structural factors
– Contrast between human nature realism (e.g., Morgenthau) and structural realism (e.g., Waltz).
– Human nature realists emphasize innate human tendencies towards power-seeking.
– Structural realists focus on how the anarchic structure of the system drives state behavior.
05:46 🌐 Theory's focus on war and peace
– Realism addresses major international political questions like war and peace.
– Parsimonious nature of realism provides straightforward explanations for significant events.
– Theoretical frameworks should prioritize explaining crucial international dynamics.
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9 years ago he can't imagine what the US will do to lose Russia to china
I'm a hands-on Constructionist, forced to live within this construct
It starts ground up. States are made of people. Therefore, states are subject to human nature, scaled up, and would act as a human would, no?
If you haven’t noticed, everything that John Mearsheimer has had to say, and all of his advice, has all been exactly spot on for the past few decades. Both the US and the world at large would have been doing ourselves a huge favor if we had taken his advice.
Wow!
A realist that denies reality of "russia".
Whats preventing countries from going the Iran and North Korea way to prevent their powerful neighbours from abusing them in this world view? if everyone is trying to get the most power possible, and the world is anarchic, then any state not getting their deterrance is a sucker state. For all your human nature realist theories, Mearsheirmer doesn't seem to understand human psychology very well, , there is an authority that rule majority of humans, fear of dead for us and our love ones, his world vision leads to that. A power struggle to get the biggest meanest weapons to deter any would be "great power" that decides to take away their lands/sovernity/liberty, if Mearsheimer is convicend the world is at he claims, then i see nothing wrong with the persue of WMD by any country, and wish they all claim them soon. Humanity is not really worth the time if he is correct.
what a clown
RuZZian apologist on OU channel?!
I like the fish in both east and west 🤣🤣
he ended up predicting the future its 2024 now and china is taking taiwan
But states desire for power domination is caused by evolutionary instincts of desire for power and security.
What he didn't anticipate was that south asia prefers China over US because of the US's hegemonic authoritarian behaviour. Berzinski spoke of this.
I'm watching this in 2024… What year are you watching this in😊?
The structure is definitely organized in accordance to human nature. This is tautological if you look at it deeply.
Where fish to the east and west means ?
clear, simple and fluent he explained it in effective way
Upon completion, I concluded that: 'Geopolitics is the combination of both the potential and kinetic energy of civilizations'. Actually learned the origin of the word politics for the first time in my life as well. I'll never see the 'POLICE' the same way I did before.
Any introductory book recommendations ?
What difference is there from the older theory of realism ?
How easily he explained the whole thing in shortest time period for which my university professor took two days of 1 hour classes each.
Super helpful. Great to grasp the foundation to understand realism.
He's boring
Its not the structure rather innate human nature to pursue a never ending quest for wealth, resources and power. It wants to ensure its dominance perpetually.
I did not know that Bryan Cranston is such a great Academician.
Chaos causes order…. So as they say.
So fires, earthquake’s, food is poisoned,
Try to start a civil war in the us by our own people.
Just my opinion of course since the vac’s.
Too many people in the world. We have 7.5 BILLION in the world. If you do the math correctly…… the whole world could fit in the state of Texas and still have plenty of room.
And eight years later……. We find out our own
People above us are KILLING us by poison in water, food, medicine, tiny aluminum particles in the air. And now saying people in the us will starve for lack of food.
They have put things in the oceans to kill our fish……… wow here we are in 2023.
I don`t see my country, Spain, reflected in Mearsheimer's theories. We do not see France or Portugal as potential threats. The EU, with all its flaws, has succeeded in changing the view we European have of our neighbours. What he says may apply to some hegemonic countries, China, the US, but not to all nations.
Clear simple awsome
I like how he stated his theory of how the international system works without bad mouthing the human nature basis of political realism.
According to the political power , what is justice for one is unjustice for the other, the unipolarity is now unfashionable. Nowadays everyone is expecting the new world, the multipolar one. Gogo multipolar would.
uls