Why Mearsheimer is wrong about Russia and the war in Ukraine. Five arguments from Alexander Stubb.

In the 18th episode of the ’Understanding the War’, Prof Alexander Stubb responds to the claims of Prof John Mearsheimer about what led to the war in Ukraine. Prof Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago, who recently gave a lecture at the EUI’s Robert Schuman Centre, argues that Russia had no other choice but to attack Ukraine following aggressive behaviour by the United States and Europe, driving Ukraine, Georgia and other countries on the Eastern flank towards NATO and EU membership. In this episode, Alex Stubb presents five arguments against this thesis. Watch also: ’The causes and consequences of the Ukraine war’, a lecture by John J. Mearsheimer delievered at the Robert Schuman Centre on 16 June 2022: Read: ’In praise of reality, not realism: An answer to Mearsheimer’, EUIdeas blog post by Veronica Anghel and Dietlind Stolle: