Simply put, the most powerful state is the one that prevails in a dispute.

- John Mearsheimer

Offensive realism predicts that the United States will send its army across the Atlantic when there is a potential hegemon in Europe that the local g…

- John Mearsheimer

In an ideal world, where there are only good states, power would be largely irrelevant.

- John Mearsheimer

Bandwagoning is a strategy for the weak.

- John Mearsheimer

A state's potential power is based on the size of its population and the level of its wealth.

- John Mearsheimer

Great powers must be forever vigilant and never subordinate survival to any other goal, including prosperity.

- John Mearsheimer

States care about relative wealth, because economic might is the foundation of military might.

- John Mearsheimer

China, in short has the potential to be considerably more powerful than even the United States.

- John Mearsheimer

The sad fact is that international politics has always been a ruthless and dangerous business, and it is likely to remain that way.

- John Mearsheimer