The Tragedy Of Great Power Politics

Chapter 7 discusses the foreign policies of the United States and the United Kingdom, exploring whether these nations contradict Mearsheimer’s claim that great powers are inherently driven to maximize their share of world power. The chapter argues that, contrary to common perceptions of American and British exceptionalism, both countries have consistently acted according to the logic of offensive realism, particularly in their roles as offshore balancers.

The United States, initially focused on achieving hegemony in the Western Hemisphere, pursued a policy of territorial expansion and political dominance in North and South America. This expansion, motivated by realist logic, involved minimizing European influence in the Americas, as outlined in the Monroe Doctrine. The doctrine, articulated by President James Monroe in 1823, declared that the American continents were not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by European powers. Monroe emphasized:

[W]ith the Governments who have declared their independence and maintained it [...] we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition towards the United States (247-48).