The Return of Marco Polo's World: War, Strategy, and American Interests in the Twenty-first Century

Author: Kaplan, Robert D.

Number Of Pages: 304

Details:

A bracing assessment of U.S. foreign policy and world disorder over the past two decades from the bestselling author of The Revenge of Geography and The Coming Anarchy   “[Kaplan] has emerged not only as an eloquent defender of foreign-policy realism but as a grand strategist to whom the Pentagon turns for a tour d’horizon.”—The Wall Street Journal   In the late thirteenth century, Marco Polo began a decades-long trek from Venice to China along the trade route between Europe and Asia known as the Silk Road—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.   Drawing on decades of firsthand experience as a foreign correspondent and military embed for  The Atlantic, Robert D. Kaplan outlines the timeless principles that should shape America’s role in a turbulent world that encompasses the Chinese challenge. From Kaplan’s immediate thoughts on President Trump to a frank examination of what will happen in the event of war with North Korea, these essays are a vigorous reckoning with the difficult choices the United States will face in the years ahead. Praise for The Return of Marco Polo’s World “Elegant and humane . . . [a] prophecy from an observer with a depressingly accurate record of predictions.” —Bret Stephens, The New York Times Book Review “These essays constitute a truly pathbreaking, brilliant synthesis and analysis of geographic, political, technological, and economic trends with far-reaching consequences. The Return of Marco Polo’s World is another work by Robert D. Kaplan that will be regarded as a classic.” —General David Petraeus (U.S. Army, Ret.) “Thoughtful, unsettling, but not apocalyptic analyses of world affairs flow steadily off the presses, and this is a superior example. . . . Presented with enough verve and insight to tempt readers to set it aside to reread in a few years.” —Kirkus Review (starred review) “An astute, powerfully stated, and bracing presentation.” —Booklist   “This volume compiles sixteen major essays on America’s foreign policy from national security commentator Kaplan. . . . An overview of thoughtful, multilayered positions and perspectives evolving through changing circumstances.” —Publishers Weekly

Reviews:

“An eclectic collection of elegant and humane essays . . . Above all there is his fascination with the decisive impact of geography on the calculations, ambitions and illusions of statesmen and societies. . . . [A] prophecy from an observer with a depressingly accurate record of predictions. When it comes to curbing our enthusiasms, Kaplan’s achievement is to throw so much shade with so much verve.”

— Bret Stephens, The New York Times Book Review

“Thoughtful, unsettling, but not apocalyptic analyses of world affairs flow steadily off the presses, and this is a superior example. . . . Presented with enough verve and insight to tempt readers to set it aside to reread in a few years.” —Kirkus Review (starred review)

“Kaplan is a kind of expeditionary foreign-policy intellectual who does not allow his sympathies to cloud his judgment. . . . It is a sign of how very unusual a journalist Robert Kaplan is that after more than three decades covering civil wars and collapsing states and American interventions he has emerged not only as an eloquent defender of foreign-policy realism but as a grand strategist to whom the Pentagon turns for a tour d’horizon. . . . Whether or not one embraces it, tragic realism offers one lesson that Americans, and above all the idealistically inclined, need to learn, and to re-learn: humility.” —The Wall Street Journal  

“An astute, powerfully stated, and bracing presentation.” —Booklist  

“This volume compiles sixteen major essays on America’s foreign policy from national security commentator Kaplan. . . . An overview of thoughtful, multilayered positions and perspecti...

EAN: 9780812996791

Release Date: 06-03-2018

Languages: English

Item Note: Good shape with typical wear. Has a remainder mark. Hardcover Used - Very Good Ships fast! 2018

Item Condition: UsedVeryGood

Binding: Hardcover