On Thuesday, we had John Mearsheimer at PRIO, talking about changes in the global geopolitical balance, with an emphasis on the US and China. Mearsheimer does not see a declining US. To him, the country has both demographics and economics on its side, and will remain the most powerful state in the world for the foreseeable future. But, China is rising, and its present day economic and political expansionism will eventually be followed by military might. Hence, we have to prepare for a conflictual global future. Not all agreed. Our own Stein challenged Mearsheimer, laying out a set of no less than eight alternative modes of explanation (not all anti-realist). The ultimate question is whether Mearsheimer’s thinking, influential not the least in China, has the potential of becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Well over 70 people attended the seminar, and the crammed Philo Hall reminded me of past seminars in Fuglehauggata, when people were hanging on the wall in that old canteen of ours. Whether one agrees with Mearsheimer or not, it is hard to dispute his qualities as a speaker, eloquent and knowledgeable. It made me realize why my year at the University of Chicago, where Mearsheimer is based, was so inspiring, so challenging. Stein gave him the resistance he deserved, and with enough food for thought that in itself, as the main speaker pointed out, that was material for three full days of discussion.
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