Robert D. Kaplan is a national correspondent for The Atlantic and a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, in Washington, D.C. More
Robert D. Kaplan is a national correspondent for The Atlantic and a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, in Washington, D.C. His latest book is Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power (Random House, 2010).
Kaplan is the best-selling author of twelve previous books on international affairs and travel, translated into many languages. In the 1980s, he was the first American writer to warn in print about a future war in the Balkans. Balkan Ghosts was chosen by The New York Times Book Review as one of the “best books” of 1993, and by Amazon.com as one of the best travel books of all time. The Arabists, The Ends of the Earth, An Empire Wilderness, Eastward to Tartary, and Warrior Politics were all chosen by The New York Times as “notable” books of the year.
Kaplan is a provocative essayist whose more than three-decades' worth of traveling and reporting experience, much of which he has accumulated in the world's most difficult and dangerous places, informs even his briefest contributions. His article, “The Coming Anarchy,” in the February 1994 Atlantic, about how population rises, urbanization, and resource depletion are undermining governments, was widely translated and debated. So was his December 1997 Atlantic cover story, “Was Democracy Just A Moment?” New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman calls Kaplan among the four “most widely read” authors defining the post-Cold War (along with Francis Fukuyama, Harvard Prof. Samuel Huntington, and Yale Prof. Paul Kennedy).
In addition to his written work, Kaplan has been a consultant to the U. S. Army’s Special Forces Regiment, the U. S. Air Force, and the U. S. Marines. From 2006 to 2008, he was the Class of 1960 Distinguished Visiting Professor in National Security at the United States Naval Academy. He has also lectured at the FBI, the National Security Agency, the Pentagon's Joint Staff, major universities, the CIA, and business forums.
“A disgrace” and “anti-Semite” were two of the (more printable) barbs launched last fall at John Mearsheimer, a renowned political scientist at the University of Chicago. But Mearsheimer’s infamous views on Israel—in the latest case, his endorsement of a book on Jewish identity that many denounced as anti-Semitic—should not distract us from the importance of his life’s work: a bracing argument in favor of the doctrine…… More »
Iran can be contained. The path to follow? A course laid out half a century ago by a young Henry Kissinger, who argued that American chances of checking revolutionary powers such as the Soviet Union depended on our credible willingness to engage them in limited war.… More »
Divided by geography, cursed by corruption, stunted by poverty, staggered by a growing insurgency—Afghanistan seems beyond salvation. Is it? From Somalia and the Balkans to Iraq, the U.S. military has been embroiled in conflicts that reflect an age-old debate: Can individual agency triumph over deep-seated historical, cultural, ethnic, and economic forces? Drawing on his experiences in Iraq, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, Stanley…… More »
Why we should embrace—rather than fear—the next superpower.… More »
On Iran, Obama should talk about democracy and support the demonstrators—but give the regime a chance to negotiate.… More »
In Afghanistan, NATO countries are stingy with their soldiers - but the U.S. can't give up on their support.… More »
We may have gained victory in the Cold War, but lost Europe to apathy and decadence in the process.… More »
A growing contingent wants Obama to lead a post-nationalist global society. If he does things right, the U.S. could become history's first truly international nation. … More »
Obama needs to get behind his chosen general and put the spectacle of indecisiveness behind him. Otherwise, in the coming months, the Democrats may be seen as having lost a war. And if that happens, not even the Nobel Peace Prize will rescue his reputation.… More »
The Arab TV channel is visually stunning, exudes hustle, and covers the globe like no one else. Just beware of its insidious despotism. … More »
As the Obama administration's recent scrapping of plans for an Eastern European missile defense system makes clear, while Poland and the Czech Republic may be our allies, it is mighty Russia to whom we are wise to defer… More »
Establishing stability—and eventually democracy—in the world's most troubled countries requires letting go of starry-eyed notions about self-government in the near term.… More »
After 26 years and 70,000 casualties, Sri Lanka’s civil war has ended—for now. The key to easing the fears of the country’s historically beleaguered Buddhist majority while protecting its Hindu minority? Rediscovering the blend of faiths that laid the foundation for the ancient kingdom of Kandy.… More »
Finesse alone won't get Obama through the challenges ahead. He needs to become more like his predecessor.… More »
Obama's new ambassador to Iraq is a star diplomat—but has no experience in the Arab world. Why Christopher Hill is a bad choice.… More »
More than democracy, Washington wants stability in the Middle East. That means leaning against the interests of the Jewish state.… More »
Uighur uprisings in China and political protests in Iran have dispelled the conventional wisdom about both countries. What should we expect next? Get ready for non-stop turbulence.… More »
His instincts so far have been pitch-perfect… More »
Sri Lanka's brutal suppression of the Tamil Tigers offers an object lesson in how to defeat an insurgency. Or does it? … More »
We may be about to witness the complete evaporation of the axis of evil… More »
National Portrait Gallery
|
The Civil War
A 150th-anniversary commemorative issue, with Atlantic work by Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Frederick Douglass, and others. Read more › |
Republicans Concede a Payroll Tax Break Extension Without Spending Cuts
New Jersey Senate Passes Gay Marriage Bill
Spy Already Covered Tina Brown's Love of Profanity
