John Mearsheimer - Offensive Realism
The official podcast of Prof. John Mearsheimer
Episodes
15 episodes
We’ll Never Beat the Houthis
DESCRIPTIONYouTube Channel member @edhodapp6465 asks: should we go to war against the Houthis, and is damaging Iran's proxies a worthwhile strategy? My answer is no. ...
The Korean War: America vs China | Ask The Professor
YouTube Channel member @spacecometrue asked me to share my analysis of the causes and course of the Korean War. North Korea invaded the South on June 25, 1950, and nea...
Episode 11: Trump Can’t Bluff Iran into Surrender
DESCRIPTIONIt seems clear that the Trump administration and its allies are working overtime to create the false impression that the United States is well on its way to defeating Iran and that Tehran should therefore submit to American d...
Forget Vietnam, You Get Iran And Iraq | Ask The Professor
I'll explain how the Vietnam War shaped my thinking about international relations, and the lessons it holds for today.
Will China Attack Taiwan? | Ask The Professor
I'll explain why I believe a Chinese invasion of Taiwan in the next decade is unlikely, and the one scenario that could change that.
Episode 10: The Inescapable US-China Rivalry
President Trump and President Xi Jinping just concluded a three-day summit in Washington, DC, that was noteworthy for its lofty rhetoric and almost complete lack of progress in dealing with a host of truly important issues: AI, Iran, Taiwan, tr...
Episode 9: Is Ukraine Committing National Suicide?
Iuliia Mendel, who served as President Zelensky’s press secretary from 2019 to 2021, published an article in The Spectator on September 15, 2026, titled “Zelensky’s Strategy Is National Suicide.” In essence, she makes a compelling cas...
Episode 8: The Russia I Saw
I recently spent 8 days in Russia – September 5-12, 2026 – mainly in Moscow and St. Petersburg. I gave a series of talks and interviews and spoke with numerous people in the Russian security community, including senior figures like Foreign Mini...
Episode 7: A Must Read Book on the Israel Lobby
Eli Clifton and Ian Lustick have just published a terrific new book called Israel’s Lobby: America in the Grip of a Foreign Power. It appears twenty years after Steve Walt and I published “The Israel Lobby” in The London Review of Books (March ...
Episode 6: Why Ukraine Is Doomed
In recent months, Western news coverage of the Ukraine war tells us that Russia is suffering huge casualties on the battlefield while making hardly any progress capturing Ukrainian territory. At the same time, Ukraine’s long-range drone attacks...
Episode 5: The False Promise of Tactical Nuclear Weapons
There is considerable evidence that the US is interested in “expanding its options” for using its nuclear arsenal. In particular, it appears that the Pentagon would like to increase its reliance on tactical nuclear weapons for both deterrence a...
Episode 4: The MOU Is Dead! Can a Blockade Save Us?
The June 17, 2026, Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) expired today – August 17, 2026. The US has not achieved any of its initial objectives. It is now mainly concerned with opening the Strait of Hormuz without having to accept Iran’s far-reachi...
Episode 3: Iran Has Trump Over A Barrel
The aim of this video is to compare the terms of the new deal to end the Iran war, which key Iranian spokesmen have just described, with those of the June 17, 2026, Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Tehran and Washington.I will ...
Episode 2: Trump Must Admit Defeat In Iran
In today’s video I’ll explain why I believe a US victory is not possible and why the longer Trump waits to cut a deal with Iran, the worse the outcome for the US. I’ll argue that Trump would have been wise to settle the war months ...
Episode 1: Origins of the War In Ukraine
In today’s episode I’ll explain why I believe a US victory is not possible and why the longer Trump waits to cut a deal with Iran, the worse the outcome for the US. I’ll argue that Trump would have been wise to settle the war month...