Why Leaders Lie: The Truth About Lying in International Politics with John Mearsheimer

Countries rarely lie to each other. (Hitler is an exception)
Countries more often lie to their own people.
Mainstream media isn’t interested in ferreting out the Truth.

  • Presidents lie to get the country into unjustified wars. (Vietnam & Iraq)
  • The countries that fearmonger most are democracies. (United States)

 

John Mearsheimer, professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, provides the first systematic analysis of lying as a tool of statecraft. He identifies the varieties, the reasons, and the potential costs and benefits, arguing that leaders often lie for good strategic reasons, while distinguishing between lying to another state and lying to one’s own people.

John Mearsheimer is also the co-director of the Program on International Security Policy at the University of Chicago and has written extensively about security issues and international politics.

The World Beyond the Headlines is a project of the Center for International Studies, which brings scholars, journalists, and world leaders to the University to discuss issues of current global importance.

For more information on this event, visit https://cis.uchicago.edu/events/2010-…

Information on the entire The World Beyond the Headlines series can be found at http://cis.uchicago.edu/wbh

This program was organized by the University of Chicago Center for International Studies and co-sponsored by the Seminary Co-op Bookstore and the International House Global Voices Program.

April 7, 2011.

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