John J. Mearsheimer Official 2023

John Joseph Mearsheimer is an American scholar of international relations best known for his theory of offensive realism. He was born on December 14, 1947 in New York City1. After graduating from the United States Military Academy (West Point) in 1970, Mearsheimer served for five years as an officer in the air force, rising to the rank of captain. He received a master’s degree (1974) in international relations from the University of Southern California, as well as a master’s degree (1978) and a Ph.D. (1981) in government from Cornell University1. In 1982 he became a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, where he was appointed the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science in 19961. Mearsheimer’s books include Conventional Deterrence (1983), which won the Edgar S. Furniss Jr. Book Award; Nuclear Deterrence: Ethics and Strategy (co-editor, 1985); Liddell Hart and the Weight of History (1988); The Tragedy of Great Power Politics (2001), which won the Lepgold Book Prize; The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy (2007); and Why Leaders Lie: The Truth About Lying in International Politics (2011). www.mearsheimer.com