I am the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor in the Political Science Department at the University of Chicago, where I have taught since 1982.

Above all else, I am an international relations theorist. More specifically, I am a realist, which means that I believe that the great powers dominate the international system and they constantly engage in security competition with each other, which sometimes leads to war.

Although I have dedicated my life to scholarship, I have also tried to engage in the policy debates of the day. For example, I was one of the most outspoken opponents of the 2003 Iraq War before it happened. I firmly believe that social science theories are invaluable for making and analyzing foreign policy.

Recent Work

May 12, 2022

Munk Debate: Russia-Ukraine War | Stephen Walt, John Mearsheimer v Michael McFaul, Radosław Sikorski

Munk Debate

The Economist, March 19, 2022

Why the West is principally responsible for the Ukrainian crisis

John J. Mearsheimer

Foreign Affairs

The Inevitable Rivalry

John J. Mearsheimer

International Security, Vol. 43, No. 4 (Spring 2019), pp. 7-50

Bound to Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Liberal International Order

John J. Mearsheimer