PART 1. Professor John Mearsheimer addressed an audience in Brisbane on Monday, 23 October 2023 as part of an event with Tom Switzer and Peter Varghese. This video is John's standalone lecture, you can find the rest of the conversation and Q&A session in PART 2 in the coming days.

The Middle East crisis will have have severe repercussions for Israel, its neighbors, and U.S. foreign policy. Israel's response to Hamas's attacks is expected to continue to provoke anger across the Middle East, potentially fueling jihadist movements and escalating conflicts with other groups, contributing to regional instability. The U.S. has a vital interest in maintaining stability in the Persian Gulf, but the Israel-Hamas conflict threatens to undermine this.

It's crucial to acknowledge that Russia, rather than constituting a substantial threat to the U.S., has the potential to be an ally in containing China. However, the U.S.-supported campaign in Ukraine has inadvertently drawn Russia closer to China, contravening the principles of balance-of-power politics, and this commitment to Ukraine is likely to remain.

All this conflict risks diverting American focus from East Asia, where efforts to forge a coalition to address a significant strategic challenge are underway, it's in Australia's interest to collaborate with the U.S. in deterring China. Beijing's optimal outcome involves the U.S. remaining deeply involved in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, preventing a full pivot to East Asia.

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John J. Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, where he has taught since 1982. He graduated from West Point in 1970 and then served five years as an officer in the U.S. Air Force. He then started graduate school in political science at Cornell University in 1975. He received his Ph.D. in 1980. [ biography ]

( Source: Center for Independent Studies )