Why John Mearsheimer Gets Ukraine Wrong

The international response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been extraordinary. Rarely have so many nations united so quickly to impose such heavy economic and diplomatic sanctions on Russia. Even Switzerland, a byword for studied neutrality, saw fit to levy sanctions on Putin’s regime. Millions of Ukrainians who fled their homes have been welcomed as refugees in Europe. The sympathy for them, and for those who remain under Russian bombardment, has been widespread (with American schoolchildren mailing small toys, crayons, and stuffed animals to comfort Ukrainian kids displaced from their homes). From across the globe, military aid to Ukraine has poured in. Underlying this reaction is an unspoken, in many cases impressionistic, recognition that Russia is the aggressor. But one prominent intellectual, Professor John Mearsheimer, argues that we’ve got it all wrong. In this episode, we read aloud Elan Journo's article, “Why John Mearsheimer Gets Ukraine Wrong.” In that essay, he argues that Mearsheimer's "realist" take on Russian invasion on Ukraine is an object lesson in the destructiveness of amoralism. Journo’s article was originally published in New Ideal on September 14, 2022. Podcast audio: