I assume Mearsheimer, Waltz and the other realists have said that Greenland and Panama and Canada should all be handed over to the USA. Trump has said all three are vital to US security, and Great Power security needs are to be respected. Right, realists? - ThreadSky

phillipspobrien.bsky.social • 43 days ago

I assume Mearsheimer, Waltz and the other realists have said that Greenland and Panama and Canada should all be handed over to the USA. Trump has said all three are vital to US security, and Great Power security needs are to be respected. Right, realists?

Comments

peterhagedoorn.bsky.social•43 days ago

Yes: I am already big so have the right to become even bigger. Pure country obesitas

aarongoodtimes.bsky.social•42 days ago

Political Realism, it seems to me, is an ideology rather than a reliable way to describe and interpret power.

phillipspobrien.bsky.social•43 days ago

Hi all, I had some fun with this. Went back and used Mearsheimer and other realist quotes and compared them to Trump speaking about Canada, Greenland and Panama. They are close to identical. I do hope the realists jump to his defense soon! https://open.substack.com/pub/phillipspobrien/p/where-are-the-realists-defending?r=1tgexa&utm_medium=ios

lammiswatching.bsky.social•42 days ago

📌

phillipspobrien.bsky.social•43 days ago

The great dirty secret of today's realism, is that it was based on the unspoken assumption that the USA would never use its vast military to take over its neighbors--which it always could. It was never really based on similarity of action--but actually on US exceptionalism

guidoleenders.emp.invantive.com•43 days ago

“What has been seen cannot be unseen”. Wondering about impact in international relationships and prosperity.

r-floman.bsky.social•42 days ago

The United States is now an incentive to abrogate the NNPT by allied and NATO countries to prepare quickly for the forthcoming abandonment of American nuclear protection, with it being replaced instead by American Belligerence. Let the nuclear arms races begin, in Europe, Asia and the Americas.

sjponeill.bsky.social•42 days ago

Back to the good old days of manifest destiny...

profpaulpoast.bsky.social•42 days ago

I'm not sure what JMM is saying about current events, but his entire theory of offensive realism is based on the behavior of the United States during the 19th century.

profpaulpoast.bsky.social•42 days ago

Also, I thought the entire basis of JMM's claims regarding Ukraine was that the US was indeed eager to pursue aggrandizement (via NATO expansion) at the expense of another power?

seanmac31.bsky.social•42 days ago

US defending Ukraine would theoretically fall under the explainable dynamic of regional hegemons looking to prevent the emergence of rivals in other regions by playing in their backyards. But...that's not how he presents what we are doing.

forsno.bsky.social•43 days ago

They will. IR as fascist fanfic is pretty much what they’ve always been about.

thomashughes.bsky.social•42 days ago

Greenland’s fine - stopping power of water. As is Panama Canal for similar reason. Canada is in bother… or something like that!

mattisflones.bsky.social•42 days ago

Why would they defend the orange traitor? No sane person would.

seanmac31.bsky.social•42 days ago

This is so obviously the case. Everything he has suggested has been ripped straight from The Tragedy of Great Power Politics. Kind of interesting to see how everyone has responded to what those concepts look like in practice.

seanmac31.bsky.social•42 days ago

"What did you think regional hegemony meant? Vibes?"

johndalton1108.bsky.social•43 days ago

Last time Russians asses were whacked in the mountains of Afghanistan. They can try to conquer all of the mountainous regions comprising South Asia and Afghanistan. 0 Russians will be left to celebrate.

harold303.bsky.social•42 days ago

I just read it. Very on point. Could Trump learned read enough to take Mearsheimer on board? Should we take this as (more) evidence that Mearsheimer is on the Kremlin payroll?

e42.bsky.social•42 days ago

A fool doesn’t need being on Kremlin’s payroll to become an anti freedom and anti truth propagandist and an influencer for imperialism.

edtrainsociety.bsky.social•42 days ago

Mearsheimer is linked to Charles Koch, Putin's Valdai Club & kissed ring of PM 'mini Putin' Orbán. 'Realism' & 'geopolitics 101' is US fossil fueled & anti-EU Atlas-Koch Network

Koch's Heritage -> Danube Institute - NATO/EU's Hungary, supported by foundation under regime of PM 'mini Putin' Orbán.

pyak.eu•43 days ago

Also: Alaska is essential to Russia security and should be handed over... (Sarcasm off)

tacticurn.bsky.social•43 days ago

Of course they are. The world is deterministic, nothing to be done. The Great Game etc🙄. The mere sight of his insufferable name makes me even more Saturday grumpy.

msoto.bsky.social•43 days ago

The problem with the realists is that they hold a morally untenable position. They try to sell their stance as pragmatic, but it's precisely this kind of position that won't work in the real world because people soon perceive its inherent injustice.

seanmac31.bsky.social•42 days ago

The basic tension with realists is they are unsure if they are describing the world as it operates or how it should operate.

agendaforreform.bsky.social•43 days ago

Sounds like the Putin’s playbook or even Hitler’s, remember Lebensraum?

kapteinlefso.bsky.social•43 days ago

Yes, keep in mind that even the coming vice president has said that Trump is Hitler. So that checks out.

jofriede.bsky.social•43 days ago

@carlomasala1.bsky.social

factforce.bsky.social•43 days ago

Mearsheimer & co must now publicly declare that they are doing as OBrien writes here👇

If not, the whole argument that #Russia "had to" attack #Ukraine, that they had the right to attack as a "Great Power" falls flat.

@conservatives+Putin apologists:
Your entire line of argument rests on this.

drfranksauer.bsky.social•43 days ago

And fast. Before Waltz gives nuclear weapons to all three.

meibauir.bsky.social•43 days ago

Nukes aside, Waltz would probably argue the opposite of the first post, though, yes?

profonderco.bsky.social•43 days ago

And would probably invest in defense stocks, being persuaded that the policy-makers do the wrong thing.

meibauir.bsky.social•43 days ago

I see you want to do a Napoleon. Do you want help with that?

drfranksauer.bsky.social•42 days ago

Nukes and jokes aside, yes, that’s indeed most likely.

kampfmitkette.bsky.social•43 days ago

relevant meme
https://bsky.app/profile/kampfmitkette.bsky.social/post/3lfaitibv422n

tsrhg.bsky.social•42 days ago

I'm thinking about how different things would be if Canada decided to become a nuclear power when it was being debated in the 60s.

frhoffmann.bsky.social•42 days ago

Turns out my man was right all along about allies starting to fight each other again after the Cold War. Just picked the wrong region for his argument.

cherylrofer.bsky.social•42 days ago

Have we heard anything from Mearsheimer about Trump's sphere of influence?

drfranksauer.bsky.social•42 days ago

aka the „Zone of Trumpfluence“

krankenbruder.bsky.social•42 days ago

Pungent.

suncloudswe.bsky.social•42 days ago

"Realists" are just Machiavellists that have relabelled themselves. What does that makes us, unrealists? Just because I call myself supergenius doesn't mean I am. Right Musk?

caln19.bsky.social•43 days ago

Given, according to them, populations of regular people have absolutely zero agency, Trump’s plan seems flawless

laurentguy.bsky.social•43 days ago

Of course, trying to take over Canada by force would be a disaster. Proximity does not mean that invasion is a good option. For example, China should not try to recover east Siberia at this point.

jaywyk.bsky.social•34 days ago

Thanks for sharing, You’re smart. Nice meeting you I’m Sarah

laurentguy.bsky.social•43 days ago

Panama would be slightly more difficult and result in persistent local resistance. Again, the US could do it, but it would not be wise.

jaywyk.bsky.social•34 days ago

Can we connect as friends ?

laurentguy.bsky.social•43 days ago

They wouldn’t say Greenland should be handed to the US, but they would assert that the US can take Greenland if it decides to. It has the financial and military means to make it happen at minimal cost. Not saying this is right or wise of course.

teuraskarju.bsky.social•43 days ago

It is only distraction to the MAGA crowd as the incoming establishment will not cope with the internal politics in the US

cave-malum.bsky.social•43 days ago

Right. And Trump said we *must* have peace so Israel will get out of Gaza asap. At least by 20 Jan. If they believe Russia's "security need" to shoot down a passenger aircraft should be respected, what should we call these "believers"?

hypergraphic.bsky.social•42 days ago

Trump doesn't care about the people of Greenland, he just wants their resources. It's called, "The Art of the Steal."

cobalisk.bsky.social•43 days ago

Yes, they almost certainly will.
If I can see that the Imperial age of the United States is beginning, they surely can as well.

fonzie-is-cool.bsky.social•43 days ago

Does great power national security include turning the branch of government that controls the USA Treasury over to a person who has just been sentenced for multiple cases of financial fraud?

meibauir.bsky.social•43 days ago

I usually value your insights, but I think this is not a very good take (and I say this as someone with no particular interest in defending neorealists). 🤷‍♀️

jacgdt.bsky.social•43 days ago

A #Mumpery way to build a US Silk Road

jellona.bsky.social•43 days ago

1939 all over again

allannotsteve.bsky.social•43 days ago

The alliance with liberal democracies around the world IS the foundation of US strength and security. Without it the US will lose its status as a superpower.

From Robert Kagan

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2025/01/trump-putin-ukraine-russia-war/681228/?utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

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