Int'l Power Politics - Dr. Mearscheimer 2015

 I caught one of the esteemed Dr Mearscheimer's presentations on You Tube.  It was a presentation he gave in 2015 and its focus was on Ukraine.  His main point seemed to be that the U.S. was responsible for the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine.  We never realized that the idea of belonging to NATO would be anathema to Russia; that it was something they simply could not accept.  America's support for Ukraine is what got us into this mess according to Mearscheimer.

Mearsheimer is considered to be a great, international thinker?

We all understand power  politics.  We see the major power players to be Russia, China and the USA.  It's when you jump from there to what's happened to Ukraine that people like Mearscheimer seem to enter into a wilderness.  True, we must admit that great powers are defined by strong and large economies, a sizable population, and military strength.

But to what purpose should one, who lives in a country that's a major power block, utilize one's position of power?  Is it to dominate one's neighbors?  Is it to have a check over what one's neighbors decide to do for their people?

Mearscheimer not only seems to recognize major powers, but seems to worship them.  This leads to peculiar situations.  Is a nation like Ukraine to belong to this power or that power?  Or, should it remain neutral.  What sort of decisions do the people of a country have a right to make as regards their country?

Mearscheimer totally disregards whether the behavior of a country is benign or hostile.  True, there were periods when land was divided up into segments and major powers often decided what countries these segments should emerge as.  The breakup of the Ottoman Empire after WW I is one example.  Sometimes the segments don't hold together, as in the case of Yugoslavia.  Does Russia have the right to divide up Ukraine?

There's this bug-a-boo about NATO.  You may recall that it was established as a defense against Russian aggression.  As evidence of such aggression wained, the significance of NATO seemed to wain.  Germany allowed itself to become more dependent on Russian oil.  NATO nations had begun to lapse on their commitment to maintain a military readiness based on their GDP.  With Russia's attack on Ukraine, NATO has gotten a new shot in the arm.  Suddenly Sweden and Finland seem to be deciding that they too want to be a part of NATO.  I doubt this was what Russia expected.

A factor that doesn't seem to be taken into much ccount when evaluating major power blocks is corruption.  In my opinions all nations suffer from corruption to greater or lesser extent.  It's like most metals.  If you want to keep them looking good, you've got to keep polishing them.  A nation that disregards the need to keep ever vigilant as regards corruption will become increasingly corrupt.  It's one of the benefits of a democracy with sound and stable institutions.  We too have corruption but to a somewhat lesser degree.

May the Ukrainian people prevail and to hell with Russia.