<Li> Soviet Union during the Cold War </Li> <P> Great powers seek to maximize their share of the world's wealth because economic strength is the foundation of military strength . Great powers seek to prevent rival powers from dominating wealth - producing regions of the world . The United States, for example, sought to prevent the Soviet Union from dominating Western Europe and the Middle East . Had the Soviets gained control of these areas, the balance of power would have been altered significantly against the United States . </P> <P> Mearsheimer asserts that great powers seek nuclear superiority over their rivals . Great powers exist in a world of multiple nuclear powers with the assured capacity to destroy their enemies called mutually assured destruction (MAD). Mearsheimer disagrees with the assertions that states are content to live in a MAD world and that they would avoid developing defenses against nuclear weapons . Instead, he argues that great powers would not be content to live in a MAD world and would try to search for ways to gain superiority over their nuclear rivals . </P> <P> The United States was a strongly expansionist power in the Americas . Mearsheimer points to the comment made by Henry Cabot Lodge that the United States had a "record of conquest, colonization and territorial expansion unequaled by any people in the 19th century ." In the 1840s, Europeans began speaking about the need to preserve a balance of power in America and contain further American expansion . </P>

John mearsheimer the tragedy of great power politics summary