Book Forum 

# *Why Leaders Lie: The Truth about Lying in International Politics*

(Oxford University Press, 2011)

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Date and Time 

June 9, 2011 4 - 5:30 PM EDT 

Location 

Hayek Auditorium 

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##### Featuring 

Featuring the author **John J. Mearsheimer**, R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago; with comments by **A. Trevor Thrall**, George Mason University; and **Ted Galen Carpenter**, Cato Institute; moderated by **Justin Logan**, Cato Institute. 

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How frequent is lying in international politics? Which types of leaders lie the most, and to whom do leaders most frequently lie: other states, or their own people? Is all deception lying, or should we think of lying as distinct from other sorts of subterfuge, like spinning and concealment? Moreover, is lying a useful tool of statecraft? What happens when lying goes wrong? Best-selling author and leading international relations scholar John Mearsheimer takes on these questions in his new book, *Why Leaders Lie: The Truth about Lying in International Politics*. Please join the author and two discussants for an examination of this fascinating and under-studied topic.

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This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).