Causes and Consequences of the Ukraine War
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has triggered the most dangerous international conflict in decades with ominous implications. It has already resulted in much death, destruction and displacement in Ukraine. A disruption in food supplies may lead to famine in West Asia, Latin America and Africa. And there is a possibility of the war escalating into something unthinkable. Understanding the root causes of the crisis is essential if we are to prevent it from getting worse and to find a way to bring it to a close. What role have the U.S. and NATO played historically and currently in Ukraine? What might a peace settlement look like?
Recorded at the Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies.
Speaker

John Mearsheimer
John Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor in the Political Science Department at the University of Chicago. He is the author of numerous books including Why Leaders Lie, The Great Delusion, and co-author of The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.
San Francisco listener –
I heard on KALW the causes and consequences of the Ukraine war by John J. Mearsheimer. A brilliant lecture.
AR listener –
A great program.
Rose Moore –
On March 1st I sent my children living in Berlin an email telling them to get out and make their way back to the US as soon as possible because I believed Russia would ultimately head to Mariupol to gain control of the Black Sea to establish dominance in the nascent war. I intuitively recognized the long game strategy at play and the ramifications of it scared me. Mr. Mearshimer’s presentation lends credence to my fears and truth to the situation we are watching unfold so many miles away here in the US. Thank you for your insightful, credible and balanced perspective on a war of profound consequence to us, whether we know it or not, and to the rest of the world who now do.
John M. Morgan = –
Thanks, Mearshimer tells it straight, the way Americans need to hear it. Very happy to share this with our LPFM radio audience.
Dave Richard –
The best, most precise description of US responsibility for the war, that I have heard.
johnmhenderson –
Mearsheimer calls out the danger signals the West chose to ignore and provides a balanced view of cause and effect that most Western media overlooks. This in no way excuses Russia’s behaviour in Ukraine which has become a proxy battleground as Viet Nam and Afghanistan were. Now the belligerents are nuclear armed, we should be very afraid. This is a dangerous decade.
From a listener in CA –
Grrreat show! Another mind bender.
Listener in Seattle –
Thank you again for another brilliant program.
James Lee Duncan –
Mearshimer cuts through the state narrative like a surgeon, and presents the reality that is both
ominous and hopeful. Ominous because of the consequence the US is tempting fate of all with an
unspeakable consequences, yet hopeful because now we know the true reality with which we can
deal.