Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities.

• Author: Zatari, Fadi
• Position: Book review

By John J. Mearsheimer

Yale University Press, 2018, 328 pages, $30, ISBN: 9780300234190

A profound understanding of American foreign policy depends upon a thorough and a rigorous theoretical understanding of the ideology that stimulates and determines it. Liberalism claims that spreading liberal democracy across the world can be accomplished through an open international economy and international institutions that promote peace in the international system. Throughout his mainly theoretical contribution, John Mearsheimer argues that on the contrary liberal democracy harms the U.S. and the international system. For him, liberal democracy leads America to become a highly militarized state fighting unceasing wars. In his preface, Mearsheimer maintains that since 1989 American foreign policy, or what he calls "liberal hegemony," has been destined to fail. He proposes that we can understand this failure by considering the interactions between liberalism, nationalism and realism, and how they affect international politics. Accordingly, Mearsheimer posits that assessing the relations between these "isms" provides the best pattern for illuminating the failure of American foreign policy.

In the first chapter, "The Impossible Dream," Mearsheimer addresses two questions related to human nature. First, are humans social beings? Or does it make more sense to emphasize their individuality? Second, can human intellect reach a moral consensus on what constitutes a good life? As a realist, Mearsheimer believes that humans are profoundly social beings. He also refutes the idea of a universal truth concerning what defines a good life. Liberalism, however, treats humans as atomistic actors, and emphasises the impossibility of reaching a universal consensus on what constitutes a good life. For him, realism and nationalism are in sync with human nature, and that is the main reason why they always trump liberalism when they clash. This means that nationalism and liberalism can coexist, but when they encounter each other, nationalism wins. Furthermore, Mearsheimer argues that thinking in absolutist terms makes it more difficult to promote tolerance and compromise, and the condition gets worse on the IR level. Therefore, Mearsheimer asserts that if people were moral relativists, this would make the world more peaceful. Acknowledging this fact leads social groups to discover the significance of survival as the main drive for humankind to operate naturally in social...