John J. Mearsheimer (1947-) is an American political thinker. His main field is international relations. His previous bestselling books: The Tragedy of Great Power Politics (2001), The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy (2007) and Why Leaders Lie (2011).

The book's rejection of Fukuyama's thesis that liberal democracy is spreading unstoppably on Earth and that it coincides with the Pax Americana. It tells why American liberal geopolitics is dangerously wrong.
The author believes that actors in international politics are motivated by three worldviews: liberalism, realism and nationalism.
In the first half of the book, Mearsheimer explains that the liberal image of man, according to which man is rational and well-intentioned, is contrary to the practice of liberal democracy, which enforces liberal principles through the main power. On the other hand, there is no main power in international politics, and since states are driven by their own interests - the most important of which is survival and preservation of sovereignty - conflicts between them are inevitable. But not only nationalism is a source of conflict, but also liberalism, which tries to spread its worldview and Pax Americana with it: although it promises peace, the path leading to it is accompanied by endless wars, which makes it the opposite of liberal geopolitics. In addition, militant liberal democracy will become less and less liberal and democratic due to continuous wars, so the best way to maintain domestic liberalism is realism in international relations.