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

There is one very important aspect of lying which the adepts of "noble" or "strategic" lying prefer not to mention. There are always "third parties". And when they see you reaching your goals through lies and deception they sooner or later understand that they simply can't trust even a single word from you. And that undermines totally the basis of peaceful relations and inexorably leads to war.

I like this guy when he says "I never thought about that". What a true scholar.

Lecture begins at 3:26

"Given that the united states seems committed to trying to run the world, is a democracy, and seems committed to using military force liberally, it seems that we should expect to have lots more evidence of fearmongering in the years ahead." The relevance of that line gave me chills.

An engaging and modest speaker on a subject usually left to radicals. To admit not having thought about an aspect yet - and to use a lecture as a way of learning on a subject from the view of students - seems a fine way of teaching to me. I quite liked the amount of time taken for a debate with the audience. An interesting question was on the definition of a 'greater good', justifying a (platonic) noble lie. As far as I have learned, this term is deemed to be ideological within democracies.

The Key Premise is that Lying sometimes makes strategic sense. Probably true ... But now every leaders lies all the time ... so that's where that gets us.

“Everywhere he talked people were very interested in the subject.” Listening to this man for two minutes I think “every subject you talk about I would be very interested”.

It would be interesting to get the presenter’s view on the change social media has made for leaders to lie, not least for their domestic audience.

One of the few intellectuals keeping it real 😂

One of the few intellectuals you will hear say "I haven't thought of that before" when someone in the audience asks a question. He doesn't just pretend to know everything, and admits when someone brings up something he hasn't considered before.

Thank you, your talk is very interesting and in vogue right now in our country. Lies are so much a part of our society today along with the monopolies in the news & our electronic segregation online. Thank you sir.

Hearing truth is music to the ears and the soul. Excellent.

Differences between selfish lies and strategic lies in his argument, as I see it, is impressive explanation on the dynamics of statecraft.

How do these circumstances being described relate to the mental illness, sociopathy and or narcissistic tendencies or psychopathy in our leaders? and as a follow on question, isn't it time to stop these people having power over us?

Until today, I had not heard about John. He talks about foreign affairs the same as I do. Very refreshing and intelligent.

讲得太好了! When he comes back in 20 years, he's gonna be talking for at least 3 hours listing the things that the recent politicians did.

Fantastic lecture, questions _and_ answers! Thank you all!

Mr Mearsheimer, you reminded me of my late father taught me and my siblings three principles of life. The first one was thou shall not commit murder. The second one was thou shall not commit arson and the last one was thou shall not commit a lie, the lie that could cause harm to other. You can lie to make a compromise possible. So it’s considered as honorable, isn’t it. Thanks

We get the leaders we deserve. No political statement is analysed with scepticism by the mass audience. Repetition of the same lie turns it into truth. Humanity is domesticated, controlled, blind. Only an individual has any hope of real perception, never the group.

When you really boil it down there is only one reason to lie and that is to get away with doing something that you shouldnt be doing

The irony is mind boggling, while Reagan was saying "trust but verify" at the other end of the table Bush was promising Gorbatchev that if he opened his markets to US corporations, NATO would not go one inch further towards the east and Star Wars would be abandoned, making sure none of it had been written down anywhere. Gorbatchev obliged, of course, that's exactly what he had been wishing for. I can imagine his face when he learned that Star Wars had never worked, it was a total failure! As to NATO Bush couldn't find the darn doocuments they had signed that day... pity.

John Mearsheimer really did it. Thinking about important moral questions with huge consequences in very focused format.

I just finished my International relations class and I had to do an extensive paper about this. My mind set completely changed about the government. It's sad because I was just six years old when 9/11 happened and that traumatized me.

I think it would crucial to include the date of this talk to add an important dimension and perspective on how the time period would add content in understanding it!

Saddam was put in a very difficult situation: To appease the Americans he had to state he was powerless as a newborn baby. IF he did that his still very upset neighbours, the Iranians, would take note and sweep over the borders. There was also the fact that Saddam used to be a US asset till he went rogue, and he was a US asset under none other than Herbert Walker Bush.

When he says none of the officials stood to personally gain from the decision to go to war in Iraq despite many of them, Dick Chenney especially having such close ties with Halliburton and other military industrial complex corporations and he instead calls it a boneheaded blunder in a misguided effort to protect the country it becomes very hard to take this man seriously

Thank god for the podium. Kept him in one place on stage. When he's presenting alone on an open stage I feel like yelling, "For god's sake someone dance with this man!"

Justine trudeau has taken lying to whole new level 🤥

One of the very few intellectuals keeping it real.

There is no excuse for lying to the public "for the greater good" or for "national security". If there are legitimate reasons the public will clearly understand and support the policies. Lies are deception, and there is no need for deception when a cause is true.

The question pertaining to the 60 minutes interview I remember quite well. I actually watched that interview on 60 minutes. It was Saddam Hussein himself in that interview. He said in that interview: "We don't have weapons of mass destruction. In fact, your intelligence agencies and your government KNOW that we don't have any weapons of mass destruction. They're simply telling you that!" This interview on 60 minutes took place well before we ever invaded Iraq. Admittedly that doesn't mean Saddam was telling the truth in that interview, though it turns out he definitely was, but it just further illuminates that we were all warned of this deliberate hoax well before we ever invaded Iraq.

I thoroughly enjoyed this.

“Falsehood takes the place of truth when it results in unblemished common good.”-Thirukkural.

I might vote for this guy if he ran for President depending on his views domestically.

So strategic lying is ok as long as long as it has a positive outcome? If Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam would've ended ok for USA, would've that make them not a lie?

Great stuff.

Only complete democracy within a state will achieve complete peace and universal prosperity within that state. Example: Where the citizenry, not the legislators have the power to approve or veto a proposal. This can be done electronically. Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts and perspectives on this TRvid site. Salomè (live in Peace), und… Mögest Du in das Licht, der Wahrheit, und dem SEIN der Schöpfung leben.

[03:27] lecture starts

John should study Boris Johnson. He's the world champ of lying.

The days of reckoning are here for all the lies and injustices... The truth will really waken up people....

It should be law that if a politician lies on hours they are executed for treason that day.

Germany lying to the USSR before invading it, Italy lying to every country around it at about the same time, lots of other examples in that era. Relatively recently the USA lying to Russia about not expanding NATO eastwards. This can be a long list.

The reason they lie is simple, "The Truth Hurts" R. A.

Fascinating. And Bush has the nerve to appear in public as a benevolent former president when he is really responsible for so many deaths. I am thankful that you explored national mythmaking and Israel.

But some leaders' lie, at stake millions life

This was so amazing I had to save it

Well I’ll be looking forward to seeing the second edition. With CoV-19 added into it.

The fact that he never even thought about people acting in the supranational interest says a lot about him.

You can diversify into terms like deception, spinning, white lies, bold faced lies or whatever. It is my opinion lying that lies at the basis of most human problems. Making all these distinction only clouds the subject. As does escaping difficult questions from your public by circling around their subject, for that matter. Anyway: As long as lying is seen as an admissible "social" skill the world will not change for the better.

There is no need to obfuscate simple issues and confuse each other. There are two approaches to politics, a moral and an immoral one. The former is represented by Socrates', the latter by Machiavelli. Real politics fluctuate between these extremes.

the fact that lying in international politics didn't have a literature up to this research shows the incompetence of the field Edit: Actually I think Chomsky has been on this for decades

If JFK was already planning/ordering the missiles to be removed, then his deal with Kurschev was equivalent to giving a beggar a bag of stale bread in order to make him go away. I read about this deal years ago. Missiles on the Continent were always a political chess game, as we had SAC bombers in the sky 24/7 during tense times, as well as the nuclear submarines. SAC had a base in Ankara, and the USS Nautilus was patrolling the Mediterranean Sea, before and after the Cuban Missile Crisis. It took part in the blockade of Cuba. We had several SAC bases in Europe, about a dozen in Britain, and a big one in Greenland, as well as many other places so the USSR was ringed by a huge mass of B-52s at all times.

BRAVO!!!

Excellent 🌹👏

Thank you 🙏

Why do politicians lie to their domestic audience with such regularity? It would be interesting to compare the number of lies told by those in power with lies told by those seeking to oust them from power. The first objective of any politician is the acquisition of power; or, if in power, the retention of power. All statements made to domestic audiences are therefore made with that objective firmly in mind. If the economy is doing badly, then don't worry, because the government knows an upturn in the nation's fortunes is just around the corner. If crime is on the increase, then the government has a scheme that will reduce crime dramatically. The other point to bear in mind is that most problems a nation faces stem, according to the Party in power, from the failings of their political opponents when they were in power; failings that the present government have inherited and now must put right. This means that each Party blames the other for the nation's woes and nobody is ever actually responsible for them.

Very clearly explained and understandable even for a layman like myself. We all know politicians are lying and yet we continue to elect them so we accept some kind of lying to happen as long as it is in our interest I presume ? Thank you uploading this.

Thanks for Sharing will read it byGod's Grace and Will

Never old …thanks

Ultimately just let us know who is responsible of the killing of Iraqis? A told us Iraq had WMD, B told us we had firm belief that Iraq had WMD, after capturing and killing innocent peoples both A and B denying that it was a misinformation. So simple to admit publically, but the question of innocent lives which had been taken just to get rid of Saddam ? What was the fault of Iraqi people? What did they wrong?

US Hegemony ended when Russia Entered Syria in 2015. And if that wasnt the end then certainly Russia's recent Ultimatium to US and NATO certainly is. Considering the alliance between Russia and China its quite accurate to say we now live in a multipolar world. Whether US chooses to accept this and make a lasting peace with world nations or not will depend if they continue as a 1st world power or a 3rd world despot.

One never knows the whole truth and so expressing a strong opinion about events seems shortsighted, even foolish.

John starts talking at 2:58

If John is right about the main stream media behaving as a “ mouth piece” for the Bush Administration, it’s certainly not left. Following up, how did those against the war, like Obama, get information to form a view opposite Bush. I got the impression that these lies were justified to a degree by the professor. Looking at the cost of this tragedy, more should be said and done.

Yes, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Bush snr didn’t have interests in Middle East oil deposits 😒

Not everyone was bamboozled by the Bush administration about WMDs, I always try to ferret out the truth by not jumping to any conclusions but looking at any and every situation from multiple POV, good lecture and discussion…only I’m uninterested in knowing how you view liberals, types of liberalism, versus conservatism…

Love the view he has about the determination of the US to spread the liberal democracy around the world, Viva la difference between us and other systems of government and we can all benefit from our differences be they religious political

Excellent! This is for those sheeple who blindly believe in MSM

I concur with the main idea -deception of own public (unlike rare cases of foregn leaders) is bad… but I bit surprised on amount of “spinning” against USA (e.g. “getting in bed with nazi” allay in cold war was german, but not fasists) and why statment “democracy leaders lying more often“ don’t require any evidence while opposite statement does. Also importance of qualifier “far from borders” in statement about preemptive agressions raising question: I’m not implying this preemptive agressions was good idea in any case, but if distance from border taken from conditions - USSR did finland and poland during WW2 and afghanistan after.. RF - georgia, ukraine and syria …

This is old school, now lying all the time, for fun too

John Mearsheimer should have known that there had been, at least for some time (before this 2012 lecture) substantial literature on the subject of lying in politics. I'm not especially familiar with the specifics, but I'm pretty certain Hannah Arendt devoted a lot of attention to this in The Human Condition, Origins of Totalitarianism, and essays in "Between Past and Future," and Judith Shklar, I'm pretty sure has written on the subject. And that's just two cases I'm a bit familiar with as a complete layman. I'm sure lots of books and articles address the topic.

This talk is a fascinating topic but is a simple framing of an extremely complex topic that would,lead to endless debate with little consensus. Sorting out noble lies vs selfish lies has far too many variables. How complicated is it? One can have lies that are clearly selfish for the person making it, but have some plausible claims to noble outcomes. One can have lies that are reinforced by noble myths or propaganda that one deludes oneself into believing. If I choose to believe I have noble goals while I personally profit, is that an example of a noble lie? Also, one can make inadvertent lies because a political leader is relying on info from others who could willfully misinform those who would make decisions. This situation for example happens a lot in military operations where the pentagon lies about mission progress and casualties. One could probably go on and on with complicating elements,. In politics, the really difficult question is untangling this mess of motives and outcomes. Even in John’s first two examples, it’s not clear cut. In the case of republicans under George Bush and the Iraq war, one is hard pressed to argue that the administration believed they were “doing the right thing”. Dick Cheney famously was recorded expounding succinctly, and exactly the disastrous quagmire that an invasion of Iraq would represent for the nation and the region if they invaded. In hindsight, we know his analysis was entirely accurate. This was the wisdom of the US star dept and the policy makers - and yet they did it anyway. One is going to have to really stretch the concept of nobility to absurd levels to sell me on this example of a noble lie. In the second example with Kennedy, he has an easier time making a case, but it’s not without complications. One might argue hat Kennedy could have made the deal, and paid the high political cost of being very public about the decision. He may have believed the deal would be impossible to push forward if revealed - but this may have been speculation heavily weighted by self interest. If he could make the deal, but lose his presidency, does he still make the deal? THAT would have been very noble! It’s hard to judge the true motives and possible outcomes. Without that, we can’t say with confidence he did something noble. I think many people give Kennedy plenty of credit here because he had the good sense to ignore the voices who were incredibly hawkish and confrontational - as if just itching for war.

Isn’t the fruit of a lie sooner or later becoming a beneshit / nice shit? The truth is sometimes uncomfortable in the present, but in the long run, lies are disastrous and poisonous for relationships on every level. Tabula rasa would be better, if well prepared.

I like his subtle humor : )

Thnx I needed this today….

Because of the popularity of Arts, music and some movies, there is a vibrant home feeling for visitors in America! This well being can easily be affected by authoritarian Officials, by aggressity or violence sometimes associated with a criminal purpose! There is no doubt about the attraction of the USA whenever the aim is distractive or intellectual. This quality of life cannot be matched by China and it is very sad that BIGTEC orientated inner and foreign politics and negative practices work against that well being!

1:20:30 there seem to have been at least 3 independent wars all classified together as WWII. Putting them together is another of the myths you talk about. USA vs Japan was one of those 3 wars & it ended by co-opting Japan as USA's Asian arm.

Excellent talk I wish he would have talked some race issued back then. Contempt against black people is well documented. BLM is not good

Didnt watch the video, but the subject is 💥💥💥

Lying is sometimes necessary. You may need to lie to a criminal to save your life.

We certainly have had another leader that prefers to lie, at this point. Thankfully he was a terrible liar

If politicians could tell the truth they would not be politicians. The best liars make the best politicians. If we treated each politician as a liar they would start to tell the truth to get you to do the opposite.

interesting talk.... incidenally, on fearmongering, if you look at the definition of "terrorist" in older dictionaries you will find that a "fearmonger" is one of the definitions of terrorist.

The fire bombing of Dresden during WW2 cannot be denied or lied about. This professor needs to check his facts about Iraq.

there is enough evidence the iraq war was about oil and other reasons. So I have to dis agree with him about it being a strategic lie but rather a selfish lie. I can't say the same about vietnam. But its still a lie and breach of trust.

In the other words, the goals justify the means and the most untruthful are the people leaders. The total dishonesty.

I can recommend reading "On Bullshit" by the philosopher Harry Frankfurt. There is a very essential distinction between a liar and a bullshitter; a liar actually cares about what is true, but chooses to conceal it. A bullshitter doesn't even care about what is true or false; they only care about persuading others, no matter what is true or false. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Bullshit

I would have no trouble finding leaders that lie to other countries, and I am not even talking about Stalin and Hitler.

I guess the leaders or anyone else who lies aren't taking Jesus seriously when he talked about who is on the outside of God's kingdom as in those who love & makes lies along with all the others who practice the evil behaviors mentioned in revelations 22:15

Oh dear what an awful world it has become

What a brilliant cynic.

28:22 - And of course the Allies were Angel's and had nothing to do with forcing Germany into a war! It's so true that the winners get to write the history!

“I have never heard a leader lie and enjoy it besides Hitler".... well he had to wait four more years... His book needs an update

The most arguable issue with China, Taiwan, and Japan is the Diao Yu Tai Islands. Based on history and geographic connection and distance, this island belongs to Taiwan, but according to all US government and newspapers it belongs to Japan. This dispute would expand Japanese territory. That is a calculated lie.

I mean, what he says that people do is 💯 correct, but not everyone, but maybe governments, false religions, political parties, so called intellectuals, clergy, media, local governments, etc....

I wish I could study with Mearsheimer.

The deputy, the assistant, or the advisors not "whispering" the leader the truth. They're not having an update information about the subject.

When he avoided that ladies questions at 56:00 I need to know!!!!! Il cry

I would love to hear his view on the rise of the Chinese Orwellian police state and its propensity to lie.

"There's no way that a great scoiety could function without a great deal of spinning and concealment, but lying on the other the hand..... let's see, how shall I put this tactfully.... rhymes with "Resident Grump"?