A highly informative discussion from Trita Parsi and John Mearsheimer on Israel’s regional policy

The second anniversary of the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas has occasioned a number of reviews of the military and diplomatic situation in the Middle East.

In this one-hour presentation from the Community Alliance 4 Peace and Justice, Trita Parsi, the Executive VP of the Quincy Institute, and Über-Realist John Mearsheimer look at the regional politics of the moment around Israel and it’s continuing ethnic cleansing of Gaza. This is an unusually informative commentary, even by the high standards the two guests normally set. (1)



Their discussion of the Abraham Accords and Saudi Arabia’s view of them and of Saudi Arabia’s security partnership with Pakistan are very interesting parts of the presentation.

They also point to the larger strategic goals of Israel, particular they goal of turning Iran into a failed state by involving the US in a longer war with Iran.

Having watched quite a few hours of presentations by Mearsheimer, it strikes me here that he seems to be taking Trita’s analysis very seriously. He does a lot of interviews, and he clearly pays close attention to the level of analytical depth of his interviewers. And what we see here in his exchange with Trita is how two experts very familiar with the politics and the diplomacy of the region discuss the subject. With all the hot air being generated in these discussions, it’s particularly interesting to hear this kind of discussion.

Trita makes a policy-geek joke about the “realist” outlook that the two of them share by saying that, working from Washington, he finds it a bit harder than John to accept the concept that states function as rational actors. John responds by agreeing with Trita’s assessment that Israel often behaves in an irrational manner:

I think though what you're saying treat is that both the United States and Israel will behave irrationally because the story you're telling, right. is that it doesn't make sense for either Israel or the United States to start this war. And that was the point that I was trying to get at. This just doesn't make good strategic sense. …

So what [are] the Americans going to do? Americans going to do? Get into a strategic bombing campaign against Iran over the long term that threatens Iran's survival and puts Iran in a position where it's desperate and therefore it does shut down the Straits [of Horuz] and therefore does turn the dogs loose on Israel. It just kind of doesn't make sense.

But again, I agree with you. They'll do it. But I think what we're saying here, I mean, I think if you look at a lot of what Israel has been doing, it does not make strategic sense. The Israelis basically take their six shooter out every day and blow each foot off. It's really quite remarkable how foolish from a strategic point of view their behavior is. [my emphasis]

Trita describes Israel’s current strategy to pose as a latter-day Super Sparta as “embracing pariahhood.” “Pariahhood” strike me as a better description of Netanyahu’s current approach than “pariah status.” (2)

Notes:

(1) From Qatar to Iran: Regional Implications of Israel's Genocide in Gaza. Community Alliance 4 Peace and Justice YouTube channel 10/07/2025. <https://youtu.be/iQq4Xby1xAg?si=dFipydwzzYKOisdJ> (Accessed: 2025-08-10).

(2) The Oxford English Dictionary currently says that their “earliest evidence for [the use of the word] pariahhood is from 1907, in Oakland (California) Tribune.” <https://www.oed.com/dictionary/pariahhood_n?tl=true> (Accessed: 2025-08-10).