Review: Why Leaders Lie by John J. Mearsheimer

SPEAKER_1 (0:01)

You know you don't have to wait to Shop Black Friday at Lowe's, right? Save up to $150 now on select power tools, equipment, and accessories. Got gifts to get? We've got plenty under $50.

Plus, My Lowe's Rewards Members get same day delivery for free. Shop Black Friday deals before the rush at Lowe's. Valid through 1118, $25 minimum in loyalty membership acquired. Order eligible items by 2 p.m. Subject to weight and size restrictions and availability. Order terms at lowes.com/shippingterms.

SPEAKER_2 (0:30)

With USAA, members can get up to 10% in savings by bundling auto and home insurance in one place.

Quit adding up insurance providers. Start adding up savings. Visit usaa.com/bundleautoproperty to see how much bundling could save you.

Shirvan (0:44)

Restrictions apply. With the 2016 US presidential elections closing in, the debates have become increasingly precarious. The gap between honesty and dishonesty is vague. Both Clinton and Trump have been caught lying, concealing, and spinning information in the duration of their presidential campaigns. Why Leaders Lie, The Truth About Lying in International Politics by John Mearsheimer provides a fresh new perspective on the reasons why politicians tend to deceive the public. Now, the book was published back in 2011, so it doesn't cover the current presidential elections. It does, however, provide a unique explanations on why and how politicians lie, conceal, or spin information. The subject of political lies is not only extremely interesting, but its relevance is as important as ever. My name is Shirvan, and welcome to a review for the bookshelf. Mearsheimer, who teaches political science at the University of Chicago, is known for his detailed and thought-provoking works.

However, Why Leaders Lie is different. Rather than a content-rich book with clear answers, it's more of a comprehensive essay, and with about 200 pages, it's a rather short read. That's not to say it's not finished, but the thing is, there are hardly any sources which deal with lying in international politics. There are, of course, a great deal of books about lying, but very few touch on the subject of international lies.

The lack of sources is actually what inspired the author to write the book. Since lying in international politics is virtually an untouched subject, Mearsheimer starts by explaining his definition of deception. Lying, after all, is a form of deception, but not all deception is lying. Concealment and spinning, the other two forms of deception, are considered tolerable because unlike lying, neither of these two actually makes a statement. Yet, to conceal or spin information is not a truth either.

The author then continues and explains how lying is considered the most distasteful of all deceptions. To call someone a liar is usually taken as an offense. However, concealment and spinning are actually part of our daily life, so it's acceptable. For example, a person interviewing for a job is actually allowed to conceal information on his resume, and is in fact expected to spin information regarding his skills and experiences. The same logic can be applied to politicians. President Obama will spin information in a positive light when questioned on the economic prospects of the US. His opponents will do the same except spin information in a negative light. Neither side is lying, but no one is telling a truth either.

The general public is willing to tolerate concealment and spinning of information, since these are part of the human condition. In some cases, even lies are considered tolerable by the public as long as the intended policy succeeds. There are politicians who have overtly lied and got caught. However, the only reason why the public reacts upset is because his policy failed, not because he lied. Thus, the ruling is lie, conceal, and spin for a successful policy will excuse deceit.

Mearsheimer goes much deeper into these theories, and he sketches an image of international politics that is rather dark and even immoral. In several instances, it reminds one of The Prince by Machiavelli.

Yet, the portrayal of international relations is as close to reality as it gets. In doing so, the author provides several variations of deceits used most commonly in international affairs. The first is interstate lies. These are usually meant to gain an advantage, or to deny-

SPEAKER_1 (4:47)

Or you don't have to wait to shop Black Friday at Lowe's, right? Save up to $150 now on select power tools, equipment, and accessories. Got gifts to get? We've got plenty under $50.

Plus, My Lowe's Rewards members get same-day delivery for free. Shop Black Friday deals before the rush at Lowe's. Valid through 1118 $25 minimum in loyalty membership acquired. Order eligible items by 2 p.m. Subject to weight and size restrictions and availability. Terms at lowes.com/shippingterms.

Shirvan (5:15)

I the opponent in advantage. This can be accomplished by minimizing or exaggerating the importance of a particular military capability. For example, Israel lied to the United States in the 1960s about its nuclear weapons program because it feared that Washington would force Jerusalem to shut down the project if it acknowledged what was really going on at the Negev Nuclear Research Center. The second variation is fear-mongering. These are told to the public to inflate a threat. The purpose behind this is to justify an aggressive foreign policy towards a specific target. For example, there was a lot of deceit on the part of the Bush administration prior to the invasion of Iraq. A number of key figures of the Bush administration lied about the foolproof evidence that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and about the implications that Saddam bore responsibility for the September attacks. Eventually, it turned out that Iraq had been free of WMD stocks since the mid 1990s, and that Saddam was actually a fierce opponent of radical Islamic groups such as Al-Qaeda. In fact, there is evidence linking Al-Qaeda to the House of Saud. However, since this is strategic sensitive information with dramatic geopolitical implications, the Obama administration has declined to publish these documents. This kind of deceits is referred to as strategic cover-ups. This variation of lies is meant to conceal information from the public and other governments which could harm a nation.