The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities (Henry L. Stimson Letures) Paperback – October 8, 2019

This book was an amazing read for many reasons, three of which I will detail. First, it nicely summarized the competing theories of international relations. It's impossible to know what one is for or against, or how one's views fare against competing theories, if he doesn't know the content and underlying assumptions of the major theories. I learned a lot about the competing theories of international relations from this book. Second, Mr. Mearsheimer made a strong case for his position: namely, that liberal internationalism has failed (and is bound to fail) and that realism provides a better template for international relations that will have better results. Third, Mr. Mearsheimer's writing is clean, clear, and crisp. Reading this tome was not only educational, but enjoyable.While I did not agree with everything in the book (I agreed with much of it), I walked away much more educated on international relations and, in particular, what a "realist" approach looks like. This book will be a starting point on the subject and an important work for years to come. If I could give it 6 stars, I would!

John Mearsheimer is one of the clearest thinkers in international relations and foreign policy. He makes a cogent, comprehensive argument for why the effort to spread liberal democracies throughout the world is a losing business that saps resources, has a terrible track record and endangers our liberal democracy at home.He breaks foreign policy strategies into three key categories: realism, nationalism and liberal hegemony. By identifying these categories, he is able to address each one independently and argue convincingly that realism and nationalism always win out over liberal hegemony.There were very few points in the book where I could see Mearsheimer was clearly overlooking a simple truth or counterclaim. This meant that as a reader, counterarguments came slowly and only as a result of considerable thought on my part. That's what I like! and what I think we need as a country: well-considered discourse on these subjects that matter for our national security and ability to flourish as a nation. I bet you will find the same. I highly recommend the book.

If you are a practitioner of public policy and diplomacy, this book is worth reading. Some may find the pages provocative or controversial, but Mearsheimer provides convincing and thought-provoking narrative on why foreign policy based on progressive ideals face significant challenges, particularly when working with or against illiberal states. Whether you agree or disagree with his premise, I recommend taking time to study this book to understand this perspective and help propel foreign policy moving forward.Mearsheimer makes clear that we in the U.S. can be our own worst enemy because of our idealism and desire to improve the human condition through ideals centered on individual rights. This is deeply ingrained in our psyche and has led to our relative success as a nation-state. It seems natural then, that we would want to export our model of governance to others so they may share in our prosperity and, to simplify, make the World a better place for all of us. This belief has driven the U.S. to pursue policies from a liberal hegemonic standpoint that has led, unfortunately, to more involvement of the U.S. in military conflict. While the U.S. is not necessarily alone in this foreign policy perspective, shared to some degree with fellow Western liberal democracies, our history with individual rights differs from some of our European partners who went through a relatively long imperialist phase that colors their traditions and beliefs to some extent. Mearsheimer's early chapters cover this somewhat to set the stage for his views on exporting liberal ideals.With the rise of China as a Great Power competitor, Mearsheimer believes we should reassess and recalibrate our approach to avoid the pitfalls of trying to force liberalist ideals on nationalist and realist schools of thought that are likelier to have larger influence on human behavior in most countries. Perhaps this is a sensible thing to do as the competition for influence increases. Mearsheimer warns, however, that should the U.S. find itself as a lone superpower again in the future, liberal hegemony is bound to failure and cautions a return to this strategy.

I really enjoyed the approach and development of the three basic isms of the book: liberalism, nationalism and realism. My eyes were opened to new horizons. Mearsheimer deals with each ism and how the three interplay and clash in national and international politics, how both liberalism and nationalism thrive in national politics but fail in international political relationships, which is where realism becomes the only successful approach to the relationships between nation states, mainly because of the cultural differences of the nations. Darnell Clevenger, author of The Shootings at Echo Creek High

The Party is over for the Neocons and "Neo- Liberals? It might be America has been using it's vast power to impose social engineering upon the world. The new reality is a lot of countries are getting tired of it. Yes the world is getting tired of the liberals backed by the powerful Military industrial complex want the world to be as they want it to be. Thus, we have Trump Brexit ect. ect. The author contends it is just reality. Neoliberalism has pushed to far. China, Russia and other have had enough. People no longer will accept it. They can't stand b.eing pushed around much longer. Trump getting out of wars and perhaps even NATO is just a kind of a new reality

Author perfectly describes tension between liberalism and nationalism. After the overview elaborates on falures of libaralism in intenrational politics and why it must be replaced by realism. Eventhough, the author presents american perspective and does not revere to problem of the europeization, which was succesful in many ways, his book is great pick for anybody.