John Mearsheimer, an international politics specialist, critiqued President Bush's foreign political plan yesterday afternoon at the Mershon Center, saying one key objective behind Bush's policy is a system of unassisted domination.
"The United States is the most powerful state, and we want to keep it that way," Mearsheimer said.
The lack of countries with the United States' level of control should make this an easy task, he said. The real threat comes from what Mearsheimer calls "rogue states" and their terrorist capabilities. He said this is the new task handed to President Bush and top officials.
"They believe that if rogue states get nuclear weapons, they can use them to blackmail the United States," said Mearsheimer. "How is it, if the U.S. could control the Soviet Union and thugs like Stalin, why can't we control Hussein?"
Mearsheimer continues by questioning more of Bush's decisions.
"Taking over the place is a no-brainer. It's like Bambi versus Godzilla. But that's not the issue. It's what happens when you own them," he said.
Nation building may require the aid of institutions like the United Nations, and this is where Mearsheimer thinks the U.S. is in trouble.
"If you are going to run the world, you need institutions. Furthermore, you need cooperation," Mearsheimer said.
The problem, he said, is the U.S. "wants to call all the shots."
Mearsheimer has written many books, including his most recent publication, "The Tragedy of Great Power Politics."
The book confronts many of the same issues discussed in the lecture. Mearsheimer graduated from West Point and then served five years as an Air Force officer.
After his stint in the Air Force, Mearsheimer earned a doctorate in political science from Cornell University. Mearsheimer was a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard's Center for International Affairs.
In addition to his policy work, Mearsheimer also won many accolades for his teaching, which includes the Quantrell Award for Distinguished Teaching at the University of Chicago. Teaching at the university since 1982, Mearsheimer is the R. Wendall Harrison Distinguished Service Professor and the Co-director of the Program on International Security Policy.
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