The Tragedy of Great Power Politics

"A signal triumph." -- Robert D. Kaplan - The Atlantic "Mearsheimer provides an admirable mixture of conceptual clarity and detailed historical observation...He is an excellent critic of rival perspectives, exposing their weaknesses with real forensic flair. Admirably, he seems to be happiest when swimming against the prevailing tide of academic opinion." -- Adam Roberts - Times Literary Supplement "Backed by an impressive historical review and a refreshingly systematic analysis of power...[S]ure to provoke debate among scholars...An ambitious undertaking." -- Patricia Cohen - New York Times

The updated edition of this classic treatise on the behavior of great powers takes a penetrating look at the question likely to dominate international relations in the twenty-first century: Can China rise peacefully? In clear, eloquent prose, John Mearsheimer explains why the answer is no: a rising China will seek to dominate Asia, while the United States, determined to remain the world's sole regional hegemon, will go to great lengths to prevent that from happening. The tragedy of great power politics is inescapable.