Theoretical Origins
Offensive realism is a prominent theory of international relations belonging to the realist school of thought, which includes various sub-trends characterised by the different perspectives of representative scholars such as Robert Gilpin, Randall Schweller, Eric J. Labs and Fareed Zakaria. Yet, to date, the most important variant of offensive realism is that of John J. Mearsheimer as fully developed in his book The Tragedy of Great Power Politics. While Mearsheimer’s offensive realism theory does reiterate and build on certain assumptions elaborated by classical realists, it departs from this branch by adding a system-centric approach to the study of state behaviour in international politics based on the structure of the international system. Accordingly, his offensive realism pertains to the sub-branch of neorealism alongside other structural theories such as defensive realism.
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