Realism and Empire

A self-proclaimed exponent of realism, political scientist John Mearsheimer has become notorious for blaming the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the United States and its Western European allies. According to Mearsheimer’s argument, talk of expanding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) into Ukraine posed an existential threat to Russia. Western influence undermined Moscow’s ability to control this vast territory close to its borders. Russian President Vladimir Putin could not allow U.S. weapons and aid in his backyard, just as the United States has not accepted similar foreign interventions in the Western Hemisphere. “This is the way great powers behave,” Mearsheimer explains. Realism as a theory allows observers to see beyond idealistic hopes for equality and humanism, turning attention to the self-interested behaviors of powerful actors, especially when their security is threatened. Putin is acting as a realist in Ukraine, according to Mearsheimer, while the United States and its Western allies are not.1