John Mearsheimer is professor of International Relations at the University of Chicago. His critique of the U.S. policy towards Russia and Ukraine has attracted a lot of attention and created some controversy. A couple weeks ago, a group of students from the University of Chicago sent an open letter to the university, where they claim that Mearsheimer is supporting “Putinism,” that his actions are detrimental to the United States, and that he is on the payroll of the Russian government. While one may disagree with Mearsheimer, we believe that trying to silence, or “cancel,” people by painting them as unpatriotic or corrupt prevents the very debates we so desperately need in this time of crisis. For that reason, we have sent an open letter to the University of Chicago ourselves in support of protecting intellectual freedom and in which Tim Luecke invites the authors of the letter to a public debate in Chicago in early May.
To download a PDF version of the letter, click here