• Login
  • Register
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Premium
  • Donate
  • Log In
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result

Chicago Students Try to Cancel Professor Who Predicted Ukraine Crisis

by Noah Carl
10 March 2022 9:20 AM

Professor John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago is the man who, way back in 2015, said the following:

The West is leading Ukraine down the primrose path and the end result is that Ukraine is going to get wrecked … What we’re doing is encouraging the Ukrainians to play tough with the Russians. We’re encouraging the Ukrainians to think that they ultimately will become part of the West … And of course the Ukrainians are playing along with this, and the Ukrainians are almost completely unwilling to compromise with the Russians and instead want to pursue a hardline policy. Well as I said to you before, if they do that their country is going to get wrecked.

Quite a prophetic remark, you might say. Indeed, predicting that Ukraine would “get wrecked” seven years in advance would seem to suggest that Mearsheimer has a good understanding – that he’s worth listening to. (Note: Mearsheimer did not think Russia would launch a full-scale invasion, so he wasn’t 100% right.)

With the Ukraine crisis still dominating the headlines, Mearsheimer must be the golden boy of his department, right? Actually, no. A group of students recently circulated a letter denouncing him for “propagating Putinism” and claiming his actions are “extremely detrimental for our country”.

The students take issue with several statements from Mearsheimer’s 2015 lecture (which is the source of the quotation above). For example, they characterise his use of the word “coup” to describe the toppling of Viktor Yanukovych as “ideological rather than academic”. (They prefer the more heroic-sounding “revolution”.)

The students end their missive by demanding “public disclosure” of all Russian funding received by Professor Mearsheimer, as well as a “statement from the university community at large that it does not condone anti-Ukraine ideology on campus”. They also claim that, if left unaddressed, the problem could “tarnish the reputation of our beloved University”.

I haven’t been able to find any articles suggesting that the university took action in response to the letter. So the students’ campaign appears to have failed. Good.

And it’s of course absurd to suggest that Mearsheimer holds an “anti-Ukraine ideology”. Indeed, much of his 2015 lecture (which the students probably just skimmed through while searching for ‘incriminating’ statements) is concerned with how to prevent Ukraine from “getting wrecked”.

As I noted in a previous post, Mearsheimer’s proposal comprised three elements: ruling out NATO membership for Ukraine; funding an economic rescue plan, together with Russia and the IMF; and insisting that Ukraine respect minority rights, especially minority language rights.

It seems plausible that if we’d followed this proposal, we wouldn’t be in the situation we are today, with Russian troops advancing on Kiev, and the West powerless to intervene for fear of sparking World War III. From what I see, Mearsheimer is a far better friend to Ukraine than the people who dismissed his warnings.

Tags: John MearsheimerNATOUkraine

Donate

We depend on your donations to keep this site going. Please give what you can.

Donate Today

Comment on this Article

You’ll need to set up an account to comment if you don’t already have one. We ask for a minimum donation of £5 if you'd like to make a comment or post in our Forums.

Sign Up
Previous Post

Systemic Adverse Events in 23% of the Vaccinated, 16% of the Vaccine Ends Up in the Liver – Revelations From the Pfizer Trial Documents

Next Post

NHS Waiting List Hits Record High as 6.1 Million Queue for Routine Operations

Subscribe
Login
Notify of
Please log in to comment

To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.

Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.

101 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

NEWSLETTER

View today’s newsletter

To receive our latest news in the form of a daily email, enter your details here:

DONATE

PODCAST

The Sceptic | Episode 40: Rob Bates on Stopping Britain Becoming Majority-Minority, Tilak Doshi on Trump vs Green Blob and Mario Trabucco on Osborne’s Elgin Marbles Betrayal

by Richard Eldred
13 June 2025
1

LISTED ARTICLES

  • Most Read
  • Most Commented
  • Editor’s Picks

The War in Ukraine Has Shattered the West’s Digital-Age Delusions

15 June 2025
by David Betz and Michael Rainsborough

Did the Mainstream Media Cover Up an Eco-Terror Attack in a French School?

15 June 2025
by Steven Tucker

News Round-Up

15 June 2025
by Will Jones

Pro-Palestine Protesters March Through London Waving Iranian Flags

14 June 2025
by Will Jones

Green Council Branded “Absolutely Insane” After Painting Green Spots on Road to “Calm Traffic”

14 June 2025
by Will Jones

The War in Ukraine Has Shattered the West’s Digital-Age Delusions

40

The Two-Stroke Engine of Brian Wilson

72

Sir Keir Set to Launch Full National Inquiry Into Grooming Gangs in Latest U-turn, Following Months of Mounting Pressure

21

Landlords Face Higher Bills As New Net Zero Rules Kick in

19

UK Govt Spends £30 Million on Woke Research Including Gay Porn After Second World War and Syrian Harvesting Songs

16

The War in Ukraine Has Shattered the West’s Digital-Age Delusions

15 June 2025
by David Betz and Michael Rainsborough

Did the Mainstream Media Cover Up an Eco-Terror Attack in a French School?

15 June 2025
by Steven Tucker

Oxford is Now More or Less a Quango

14 June 2025
by Darren Gee

The Two-Stroke Engine of Brian Wilson

14 June 2025
by James Alexander

As a Civil Servant, I Can Tell You Dissent From DEI Dogma is Not Allowed

13 June 2025
by Anonymous Civil Servant

POSTS BY DATE

March 2022
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031  
« Feb   Apr »

SOCIAL LINKS

Free Speech Union

NEWSLETTER

View today’s newsletter

To receive our latest news in the form of a daily email, enter your details here:

POSTS BY DATE

March 2022
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031  
« Feb   Apr »

DONATE

LISTED ARTICLES

  • Most Read
  • Most Commented
  • Editor’s Picks

The War in Ukraine Has Shattered the West’s Digital-Age Delusions

15 June 2025
by David Betz and Michael Rainsborough

Did the Mainstream Media Cover Up an Eco-Terror Attack in a French School?

15 June 2025
by Steven Tucker

News Round-Up

15 June 2025
by Will Jones

Pro-Palestine Protesters March Through London Waving Iranian Flags

14 June 2025
by Will Jones

Green Council Branded “Absolutely Insane” After Painting Green Spots on Road to “Calm Traffic”

14 June 2025
by Will Jones

The War in Ukraine Has Shattered the West’s Digital-Age Delusions

40

The Two-Stroke Engine of Brian Wilson

72

Sir Keir Set to Launch Full National Inquiry Into Grooming Gangs in Latest U-turn, Following Months of Mounting Pressure

21

Landlords Face Higher Bills As New Net Zero Rules Kick in

19

UK Govt Spends £30 Million on Woke Research Including Gay Porn After Second World War and Syrian Harvesting Songs

16

The War in Ukraine Has Shattered the West’s Digital-Age Delusions

15 June 2025
by David Betz and Michael Rainsborough

Did the Mainstream Media Cover Up an Eco-Terror Attack in a French School?

15 June 2025
by Steven Tucker

Oxford is Now More or Less a Quango

14 June 2025
by Darren Gee

The Two-Stroke Engine of Brian Wilson

14 June 2025
by James Alexander

As a Civil Servant, I Can Tell You Dissent From DEI Dogma is Not Allowed

13 June 2025
by Anonymous Civil Servant

SOCIAL LINKS

Free Speech Union
  • Home
  • About us
  • Donate
  • Privacy Policy

Facebook

  • X

Instagram

RSS

Subscribe to our newsletter

© Skeptics Ltd.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Premium
  • Donate
  • Log In

© Skeptics Ltd.

wpDiscuz
You are going to send email to

Move Comment