AhlulBayt News Agency: A prominent professor of international relations on Sunday described the West’s strategic defeat in Ukraine, Donald Trump’s “foolish” entry into war against Iran, and America’s partnership in the genocide in Gaza as signs of Washington’s deep crisis.
On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in a summit that quickly reverberated widely across global media and political circles. Many regarded it as a sign of shifting power dynamics and a test of Washington’s role in global affairs.
The summit ended without any achievements, prompting many observers to analyze the new state of the Ukraine war and Trump’s approaches.
In this regard, John Mearsheimer, a prominent professor of international relations at the University of Chicago and a well-known theorist of the Realist school, analyzing the details of the Alaska meeting and the situation of the Ukraine war, emphasized that this conflict is an “existential” war for Russia, while the United States, through its mistaken decisions, has become entangled in costly wars, including against Iran.
Mearsheimer, referring to Putin’s rejection of Europe and America’s request for a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine, said:
“Putin did an outstanding job in managing his conduct and demeanor at the recent summit. That was all he needed to do—just to be present at the meeting and to display diplomatic, intelligent, and professional behavior toward Trump.”
This prominent professor of international relations, noting that “after Putin’s outright rejection of the ceasefire idea, Trump has now backtracked and is also calling for peace,” added: “The Russians are fully aware of the West’s objectives and are unwilling to give Ukraine the opportunity to rearm and regroup so that the war can continue. From Moscow’s perspective, Ukraine’s possible membership in NATO is also an existential threat.”
Mearsheimer, pointing out that Russia has clear conditions, added: “One of Moscow’s fundamental conditions is the recognition of Russian control over four Ukrainian provinces plus Crimea. The second condition is turning Ukraine into a neutral country, and the third is the elimination of the Ukrainian army’s offensive capabilities so that it cannot pose a threat to Russia. However, from the West’s viewpoint, these three conditions are unacceptable — and for this reason, reaching a peace agreement is impossible.”
Mearsheimer, once again referring to Trump’s retreat from his earlier positions and to Volodymyr Zelensky’s implicit opposition to Washington and Moscow’s call for a peace agreement, stressed:
“Trump is shifting the decision-making power to Ukraine, because he has realized that he cannot end this war. At the same time, Trump has also backed down from his own idea of imposing secondary sanctions against Russia.”
The international relations scholar went on to discuss the consequences of consolidating Russia’s sovereignty over the four eastern and southern provinces of Ukraine, saying:
“This means the loss of 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory, and it will be a tragedy for Kyiv.”
Mearsheimer further reminded that, in his view, “Ukraine is doomed to collapse, and Zelensky will be forced to accept Russia’s conditions. The prudent step for Ukrainians is to acknowledge their defeat. But it is not only the Ukrainians who seek the return of the four provinces to Ukraine; the West, too, is unwilling to accept its own defeat — and this could potentially escalate the conflict into a broader war.”
The prominent American scholar in international relations further commented on Israel’s war against Iran and the United States’ involvement, saying:
“In Israel’s war against Iran, many of the U.S. defensive missile reserves were destroyed. Despite two attempts by Tel Aviv to provoke a war between Iran and the U.S. during the Biden administration, he refused to engage in such a war, which was a wise decision. But Trump foolishly entered the war against Iran and has now entangled the United States in this conflict.”
John Mearsheimer concluded by noting:
“The United States is in a critical situation. On the one hand, it is complicit in a genocide (the events in Gaza), and even those who refuse to acknowledge the genocide have admitted that a massive killing is taking place. Therefore, both strategically and morally, Trump’s actions have left many disappointed and deeply concerned.”
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