Jack Murphy

Mr. Shirk

International Relations

7 October 2013           

Power and Fear

            In Mearsheimer’s, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, “Power and Fear” section, I agree, for the most part with what he believes in with a few exceptions and limitations. Mearsheimer seems to press the idea of fearing other states and using offensive reactions excessively. While it is important to keep aware of what other states are doing, while having some uncertainty of other states, the extent of worry, which Mearsheimer suggests, seems to be excessive and impractical.

            Yes, it is true that states have, “offensive military capability that they can use against each other”, and that, “one can never be certain that other states do not intend to use that power against oneself” (pg. 43), but this does not mean we have to fear every great power. For example, there is no need for the United States to fear Great Britain if they somehow become more powerful. Ostensibly, no great power will act irrationally, meaning that there would be plenty of warning and clear signs of a great power changing ideals and of a possible attack or start of a war. We must not fear every nation in order to make our economy grow. If we do simply fear, our economy would not prosper as much, which would hurt the strength of our military. In some cases it does make sense to fear great powers such as the U.S. fearing the Soviet Union during the Cold War, but it was transparent that they could be an immediate threat to us.

            This brings up another point of Mearsheimer with which I disagree. Mearsheimer states, “rival states that possess nuclear forces that can survive a nuclear attack and retaliate against it are likely to fear each other less than if these same states had no nuclear weapons” (Pg. 43-44). Mearsheimer’s logic does make sense, but during the Cold War the amount of tension and fear the states had, including the citizens, was the greatest it could possibly be. The thought that there could be a nuclear attack on the homeland struck more fear in people than the thought of a war. I do agree with Mearsheimer though that, “nuclear-armed rivals are going to be reluctant to fight with each other”(pg. 44).

            There is no need to fear countries as much as Mearsheimer suggests. While power is important, and through fear we can determine the amount of power we need and have, we cannot live in constant fear of other states, as it will have negative effects on ours. Some amount of suspicions is necessary though to protect us. Great powers will not act irrationally and out of nowhere attack us. This is why we must not fear as greatly as Mearsheimer proposes.