The first time I heard about John Mearscheimer was several years ago when I came across a YouTube video of him talking about geopolitics that I found to be interesting. I saw the title of this book and thought I might consider it and then once I saw the author I decided I would read it.
Mearscheimer writes about geopolitics from 1792 to the end of the twentieth century. He presents his theories and then he examines the historical record to support the theory he is presenting.
He begins the book by noting that many felt with the fall of the Soviet Union that the world would be much more peaceful. He notes “Alas the claim that security competition and war between the great powers have been purged from the international system is wrong. Indeed there is much evidence that the promise of everlasting peace among the great powers was still born.”
Mearscheimer presents several theories about power politics in his book. He writes: “My theory offered in chapter two attempts to explain why great powers tend to have aggressive intentions and why they aim to maximize their share of world power. I tried there to provide a sound logical foundation for my claims that status quo powers are rarely seen in the international system and that especially powerful states usually pursue regional hegemony.”
When trying to analyze why wars begin he notes: “Power in the international system is usually arranged in three different ways bipolarity, balanced multi-polarity and unbalanced multi-polarity … the core of my argument is that bipolar system tend to be the most peaceful and unbalanced multipolar systems are the most prone to deadly conflict.”
Overall this was an interesting book published in 2001. As such it did not include an analysis of the Iraq or Afghanistan wars. After completing this book I learned that there is a 2014 update but that is not the version I read. This is a scholarly work that I rate 3 out of 5 stars.
Thomas Aquinas is credited as one of the greatest proponents of natural law. During his time in Cologne he was taught by Albertus Magnus. Magnus used the teachings of Aristotle in his mentorship of Thomas Aquinas.
Samuel Adams believed in American Independence from Great Britain. He is one of the most well know Son's of Liberty. On August 1, 1776 he gave a speech to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
Hefei, China Thursday 6:00AM
The rising sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon. The darkness of night was about to give way to the light of day. The sleeping city would soon be bustling with activity completely unaware of what had occurred while it slept.
Zhao Kai stood outside a small warehouse looking building. For all of the modernization that had been occurring in China this building had been skipped. At least on the outside. It appeared old and nearly abandoned but the inside told a different story. Before Kai entered the building he glanced at the rising sun. This was his favorite moment of the day. The blinding light of the sun was a weapon that he used literally.
On numerous occasions he would take a prisoner to a spot where there was an unobstructed view of the rising sun. Then he would bind them in such a way that they had to stare directly into the sun. If he did his job right they would not be able to close their eyes and would return to their prison cells blinded for life. If he didn’t just kill them. That punishment would not be on the table today but perhaps tomorrow. He liked ...
