Customer Review: This was one of the first of intrepid reporter, Robert Kaplan's, many timely and insightful Atlantic Monthly articles turned into a book. Kaplan has "made his bones" (and a stellar reputation) going where the action is. And then, even while measuring the temperature on the ground, never failing to... more info
Customer Review: A central thesis of Kaplan's book is that the U.S. is now an empire with global reach. I just don't agree with his premise. If we are an empire, we're pretty bad at it. What is true is that the U.S. military has succumbed to "mission creep" with little or no public debate. Why are we training troops... more info
Customer Review: Balkan Ghosts is a compete curate's egg: it is neither history nor travel writing, neither political analysis nor journalism, nor is it all these things together. Its chief merit is in the prologue: a set of articles published in the 90s by Kaplan arguing for Western intervention in the... more info
Customer Review: Next to Victor Davis Hanson, Robert D. Kaplan is the most enjoyable writer to read. Both have an eye for capturing the moment where ancient history punctures and punctuates current history. Who knew that the ancient ethnic rivalries -- ancient because they occurred about 100 years ago and new... more info
Customer Review: Not Kaplan's best, but that's because the subject was difficult to follow. Most of the diplomats were rather obscure and unaccomplished names in history - either teachers / professors or evangelical Christians at or around the American University of Beirut - so not the easiest to follow. Fact is,... more info
The Coming Anarchy is a book that correctly predicted the future. The author was one of the first to say we should go to war with the Muslim extremists and predicted we would do very well. Since that initial judgment he has revised his views and predicted that it would be hard to stop... more info
Customer Review: Surrender or Starve is a solid book that deserves reading, especially if you knew nothing of the Ethiopian/Eritrean conflict. When I was young, I distinctly recall images of the famine in Ethiopia, calls to action from within the United States but, like Kaplan emphasizes, the West did not appreciate... more info
Customer Review: What an insightful and wonderful travel log besides having an understanding of the areas and the politics involved. Read it before traveling to these places.
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