John J. Mearsheimer, author of The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, is a pivotal figure in the landscape of international relations, known for his endorsement of the realism theory. Mearsheimer was born on December 14, 1947, in Brooklyn, New York. He was educated at West Point, graduating in 1970, and afterwards earned a master’s degree in international relations at the University of Southern California. He received his PhD from Cornell University in 1980. Before his foray into the academic realm, Mearsheimer honed his insights into the nuances of military strategy and global conflict during a five-year tenure as an officer in the US Air Force.

The bulk of Mearsheimer’s scholarly career is intertwined with the University of Chicago, where he joined the faculty in 1982 and now serves as the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor. His academic pursuits have been characterized by a thorough and analytical approach to the dynamics of global power and security issues—the cornerstones of his realist ideology. Mearsheimer has emerged as a prominent critic of liberal internationalism and the foreign policy maneuvers of the United States, particularly in regions such as Iraq and Libya.