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The return of Marco Polo's world : war, strategy, and American interests in the twenty-first century / Robert D. Kaplan.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Random House, [2018]Copyright date: ©2018Edition: First editionDescription: xiv, 280 pages ; 25 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780812996791
  • 0812996798
Subject(s): Genre/Form:
Contents:
Strategy. The return of Marco Polo's world and the U.S. military response -- The art of avoiding war -- The tragedy of U.S. foreign policy -- Elegant decline : the Navy's rising importance -- When North Korea falls -- War and its costs. Rereading Vietnam -- Iraq : the counterfactual game -- The wounded home front -- No greater honor -- Thinkers. In defense of Henry Kissinger -- Samuel Huntington : looking the world in the eye -- Why John Mearshimer is right (about some things) -- Reflections. On foreign policy, Donald Trump is no realist -- The post-imperial moment -- Fated to lead -- The great danger of a new utopianism -- Marco Polo redux. Traveling China's new Silk Road.
Summary: "A bracing assessment of U.S. foreign policy and world disorder over the past two decades, anchored by a major new Pentagon-commissioned essay about changing power dynamics among China, Eurasia, and America--from the renowned geopolitical analyst and bestselling author of The Revenge of Geography and The Coming Anarchy. In the late thirteenth century, Marco Polo began a decades-long trek from Venice to China. The strength of that Silk Road--the trade route between Europe and Asia--was a foundation of Kublai Khan's sprawling empire. Now, in the early twenty-first century, the Chinese regime has proposed a land-and-maritime Silk Road that duplicates exactly the route Marco Polo traveled. In the major lead essay, recently released by the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment, Robert D. Kaplan lays out a blueprint of the world's changing power politics that recalls the late thirteenth century. As Europe fractures from changes in culture and migration, Eurasia coheres into a single conflict system. China is constructing a land bridge to Europe. Iran and India are trying to link the oil fields of Central Asia to the Indian Ocean. America's ability to influence the power balance in Eurasia is declining. This is Kaplan's first collection of essays since his classic The Coming Anarchy was published in 2000. Drawing on decades of firsthand experience as a foreign correspondent and military embed for The Atlantic, as well as encounters with preeminent realist thinkers, Kaplan outlines the timeless principles that should shape America's role in a turbulent world: a respect for the limits of Western-style democracy; a delineation between American interests and American values; an awareness of the psychological toll of warfare; a projection of power via a strong navy; and more. From Kaplan's immediate thoughts on President Trump ("On Foreign Policy, Donald Trump Is No Realist," 2016) to a frank examination of what will happen in the event of war with North Korea ("When North Korea Falls," 2006), The Return of Marco Polo's World is a vigorous and honest reckoning with the difficult choices the United States will face in the years ahead."-- Provided by publisher.Summary: "Drawing on decades of first-hand experience as a foreign correspondent and military embed for The Atlantic, Robert D. Kaplan makes a powerful, clear-eyed case for what timeless principles should shape America's role in the world: a respect for the limits of Western-style democracy; a delineation between American interests versus American values; an awareness of the psychological toll of warfare; a projection of military power via a strong navy; and more"-- Provided by publisher.
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Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 327.73 K17 Available 33111009174554
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A bracing, ground-level assessment of American foreign policy over the past two decades, an era that includes 9/11, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the rise of Putin's Russia, increased Chinese aggression, the potential for war in North Korea, and more.

ANCHORED BY A MAJOR NEW ESSAY ABOUT CHANGING POWER DYNAMICS AMONG CHINA, EURASIA, AND AMERICA, which Kaplan wrote for the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment, and which is now released for public view.

Drawing on decades of firsthand experience as a foreign correspondent and military embed for The Atlantic, and deep reading that ranges from the lessons of Thucydides and Sun Tzu to contemporary outcomes in the Middle East, Robert D. Kaplan makes a powerful case for what timeless principles and factors should shape America's role in the world- a respect for the limits of Western-style democracy; a delineation between American interests versus American values; an awareness of the psychological toll of warfare; a projection of military power via a strong navy; and much more.

In a series of vivid and clear-eyed assessments, renowned foreign policy analyst Kaplan describes an increasingly unstable world-and how American strategy should adapt accordingly.

Advance praise for The Return of Marco Polo's World

"When it comes to geopolitics and the analysis of world affairs, Robert D. Kaplan is the best in the business. These essays are not only astonishing in their breadth, depth and range, but beautifully crafted and accessible." -John Bew, professor at the war studies department, King's College London, author of Realpolitik- A History and Castlereagh- A Life

"A characteristically thoughtful and provocative collection of essays from Robert D. Kaplan, born of his own Marco Polo-like wanderings and rich grasp of history. Elegant and compelling, these prescient pieces are a valuable guide to the endlessly complicated geopolitics of Eurasia, and what it all means for Americans in the decades ahead." -Ambassador William J. Burns, president, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and former deputy secretary of state

"Robert D. Kaplan has long been one of the most unrelenting realistic commentators on the rough, mean, conflictual world disorder that has evolved since the Cold War. This compelling collection of essays on prospects for war and peace distills his insights on a wide range of crucial issues, events, and personalities. He provides a compelling antidote to the facile optimists in the ethnocentric western intelligentsia. Read it with a stiff drink in hand, but be ready to be excited." -Richard K. Betts, director of the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, Columbia University

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Strategy. The return of Marco Polo's world and the U.S. military response -- The art of avoiding war -- The tragedy of U.S. foreign policy -- Elegant decline : the Navy's rising importance -- When North Korea falls -- War and its costs. Rereading Vietnam -- Iraq : the counterfactual game -- The wounded home front -- No greater honor -- Thinkers. In defense of Henry Kissinger -- Samuel Huntington : looking the world in the eye -- Why John Mearshimer is right (about some things) -- Reflections. On foreign policy, Donald Trump is no realist -- The post-imperial moment -- Fated to lead -- The great danger of a new utopianism -- Marco Polo redux. Traveling China's new Silk Road.

"A bracing assessment of U.S. foreign policy and world disorder over the past two decades, anchored by a major new Pentagon-commissioned essay about changing power dynamics among China, Eurasia, and America--from the renowned geopolitical analyst and bestselling author of The Revenge of Geography and The Coming Anarchy. In the late thirteenth century, Marco Polo began a decades-long trek from Venice to China. The strength of that Silk Road--the trade route between Europe and Asia--was a foundation of Kublai Khan's sprawling empire. Now, in the early twenty-first century, the Chinese regime has proposed a land-and-maritime Silk Road that duplicates exactly the route Marco Polo traveled. In the major lead essay, recently released by the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment, Robert D. Kaplan lays out a blueprint of the world's changing power politics that recalls the late thirteenth century. As Europe fractures from changes in culture and migration, Eurasia coheres into a single conflict system. China is constructing a land bridge to Europe. Iran and India are trying to link the oil fields of Central Asia to the Indian Ocean. America's ability to influence the power balance in Eurasia is declining. This is Kaplan's first collection of essays since his classic The Coming Anarchy was published in 2000. Drawing on decades of firsthand experience as a foreign correspondent and military embed for The Atlantic, as well as encounters with preeminent realist thinkers, Kaplan outlines the timeless principles that should shape America's role in a turbulent world: a respect for the limits of Western-style democracy; a delineation between American interests and American values; an awareness of the psychological toll of warfare; a projection of power via a strong navy; and more. From Kaplan's immediate thoughts on President Trump ("On Foreign Policy, Donald Trump Is No Realist," 2016) to a frank examination of what will happen in the event of war with North Korea ("When North Korea Falls," 2006), The Return of Marco Polo's World is a vigorous and honest reckoning with the difficult choices the United States will face in the years ahead."-- Provided by publisher.

"Drawing on decades of first-hand experience as a foreign correspondent and military embed for The Atlantic, Robert D. Kaplan makes a powerful, clear-eyed case for what timeless principles should shape America's role in the world: a respect for the limits of Western-style democracy; a delineation between American interests versus American values; an awareness of the psychological toll of warfare; a projection of military power via a strong navy; and more"-- Provided by publisher.

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