Offensive realism

Offensive realism is a structural theory in international relations which belongs to the neorealist school of thought and was put forward by the political scholar John Mearsheimer in response to defensive realism. Offensive realism holds that the anarchic nature of the international system is responsible for the promotion of aggressive state behavior in international politics. The theory fundamentally differs from defensive realism by depicting great powers as power-maximizing revisionists privileging buck-passing and self-promotion over balancing strategies in their consistent aim to dominate the international system. The theory provides important alternative views and understanding as well as often-accurate prediction of behaviors of individual states, but it remains a subject of criticism.