The Tragedy of Great Power Politics – John J. Mearsheimer

Brief Description of the Book

The Tragedy of Great Power Politics is a foundational text of offensive realism in International Relations. Mearsheimer argues that the structure of the international system is anarchic (no central authority), which compels great powers to continuously seek more power to ensure their survival. According to him, states are not inherently aggressive because of ideology or leaders, but because uncertainty about others’ intentions and fear of vulnerability push them towards power maximisation.
The book is extremely important for GS-2 International Relations and Essay, especially for questions on USA–China rivalry, Russia–Ukraine conflict, balance of power, multipolarity, security dilemma, and limits of liberal internationalism.

The following extracts may be used in OPSC answer writing:

“The international system is anarchic, which means there is no central authority to protect states from one another.”→ GS-2 IR: Concept of anarchy, foundation of realist worldview, insecurity in world politics

“Great powers fear each other and always compete for power.”→ GS-2 IR / Essay: Power competition, strategic rivalry (USA–China, NATO–Russia)

“Survival is the primary goal of great powers.”→ GS-2 IR: National interest, security-first foreign policy behaviour

“States can never be certain about the intentions of other states.”→ GS-2 IR: Security dilemma, trust deficit in international relations

“The best way for a state to ensure its survival is to be the most powerful state in the system.”→ GS-2 IR / Essay: Hegemony, power maximisation, critique of balance-of-power optimism

“Offensive realism says that great powers are destined to be rivals.”→ GS-2 IR: Structural causes of conflict; inevitability vs management of rivalry

“International institutions have minimal influence on state behaviour.”→ GS-2 IR / Essay: Limits of UN, WTO, international law; realism vs liberal institutionalism

“States do not trust each other, even when they share common interests.”→ GS-2 IR: Fragility of alliances, transactional partnerships

“The tragedy of great power politics is that states often pursue power at the expense of security.”→ Essay / GS-2: Paradox of power; arms race, instability caused by overreach

“Peace is fragile because it is underpinned by power, not goodwill.”→ GS-2 IR / Essay: Deterrence theory, uneasy peace, nuclear stability

“Rational states may still act aggressively.”→ GS-2 IR: Rationality does not equal morality; structural compulsion in global politics