Rating: 
Summary: Not my cup of tea, but I don't regret buying it ...
Review: "Warrior politics" is a very well-written book, quite short, and not boring at all. Kaplan believes that our modern world is merely a continuation of the ancient world in many things, and thus capable of taking advantage of lessons already taught by important philosophers and statesmen. There is a quotation at the beginning of this book, near to the title, that somehow sums up Kaplan's idea: "Anyone wishing to see what it is to be must consider what has been: all the things of this world in every era have their counterparts in ancient times" (Machiavelli).
The author delves in an engaging way into the works of Thucydides, Livy, Machiavelli, Hobbes and Churchill, among others. He draws "lessons" from their works, and tries to apply them to the events that were happening in the world more or less at the time this book was first published (2002).
Do you want an example?. Well, for instance Kaplan reminds the reader that Machiavelli said that a policy is virtuous only if it is effective, and he also tells us about the distinction that author made between private virtue and pagan virtue. According to Machiavelli, pagan virtue (pragmatic and merciless, but not amoral) was the kind of virtue that should prevail in matters of the State. After this "theoretic" travel, Kaplan applies the lessons we learn to current affairs... He does this with all the philosophers or statesmen he studies, and it is at that point that I generally don't like his conclusions.
All the same, I want to highlight the fact that I found some of his observations strikingly accurate, especially those regarding military strategy. Kaplan says that even though many believe that war will become more "clean" and less dangerous for the "professional soldiers" thanks to technology, that will not always be the case. In some occasions, professional soldiers will have to face "warriors" who have nothing to lose, and who think in a totally different way. From Kaplan's point of view, USA's strategy will have to adjust to that truth with "warrior politics", because that is a reality that cannot be denied any longer.
Robert Kaplan is far from being an author with whom I agree on everything... As a matter of fact, I dislike many of the conclusions he reaches in "Warrior politics". I think that he ends up placing too much emphasis on the role of force in the international arena, and doesn't give its due importance to "soft power".
Despite that, I don't regret buying this book, because Kaplan makes some points I consider quite interesting. Also, and probably more important, I was so much against some of the statements he made that I ended up thinking why I believed that those statements weren't true. Due to that, now I am more certain of my opinions, and have quite a few reasons to back them.
On the whole, I think that this is the kind of book that "shakes" you, whether you agree with it or not. As a result, it is thought-provoking, and a book I have no problems recommending to you :)
Belen Alcat
Rating:
Summary: "Constructive Pessimism" and "Soft Imperial Influence."
Review: Every day, much is new in the world. The author argues that newness can be a mere distraction. In reality, he argues,foreign policy statecraft is essentially what it was in ancient times, before the rise of Christianity, mass communications, and widespread democracy.
This is a bold assertion. It is one thing for a religious leader to plumb the depths of the Old Testament or the New Testament to provide insights to modern moral dilemmas. It is something else to assert that in important respects we still live in ancient times. One would hope that that thousands of years of experience, learning, and prayer would have fundamentally changed the way countries relate to each other.
It is an assertion that leads to the discovery of unlikely heroes. For the last 14 years of his reign, from 23 A.D. to 37 A.D., the Roman Emperor Tiberius built a series of dungeons and torture chambers, and engaged in "obscene" cruelty. But, in the first nine years of his reign,he added military bases to the territories that Rome already possessed, and "combined diplomacy with the threat of force to preserve a peace that was favorable to Rome."
The Han dynasty of China lasted over 400 years and "represented a grand harmony of peoples and systems," beginning in 206 B.C.
The "wise delaying tactics" (the words of the great historian Livy) of Roman consul Quintus Fabius Maximus broke "the terrible continuity of Roman defeats." Said Fabius,"Never mind if they call your caution timidity, your wisdom sloth,your generalship weakness; it is better that a wise enemy should fear you than foolish friends should praise."
The study of these and other ancients by governmental decision-makers is nothing new, Kaplan reminds us. Winston Churchill's early historical writings evoked memories of ancient historians that Churchill had presumably studied. Churchill writes of "civilization" versus "barbarism," fills his work with evocative battle scenes, great drama, and heroism. For Churchill, Kaplan writes, "glory is rooted in a morality of consequence, of actual results rather than good intentions."
Niccolo Machiaevelli (1469-1527), the author of The Prince, also popularized ancient thinking: " he preferred a pagan ethic that elevated self-preservation over the Christian ethic of sacrifice, which he considered hypocritical."
Machiavelli believed that ruthless tactics can be central to a statesman's virtue. "(V)irtue has little to do with individual perfection and everything to do with political result. Thus, for Machiavelli, a policy is defined not by its excellence but by its outcome; if it isn't effective, it can't be virtuous."
The philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)is also an intellectual heir of the ancients. "The sum of virtue," Hobbes writes, "is to be sociable with them that will be sociable, and formidable to them that will not."
The ancient sources, and the great philosphers of modern or premodern times, are cited in service of an aggressive foreign policy. This book was very popular with intellectuals in the orbit of the Bush White House, for it is a series of skillful rhetorical arguments for interventionism, occasionally modified with warnings of dire consequences of failure.
It is best suited for speechwriters, who can savor and appropriate eloquent sentence after eloquent sentence. It is also a good book for college classrooms, where its bold assertions provide grist for thousands of analytical term papers and theses.
It is, though, not the best guide to actual foreign-policy making. In his numerous other works, Kaplan deals with reality in penetrating detail. Here, he marches across history with dazzling speed, uniting diverse historical subjects with present day events. This method spreads both insights and confusion. Mere mortals do not have the gift of prophecy. Alas, we do know which historical precedent is the most relevant until after a pending crisis is over. The inspirational words and deeds of the ancients are usually less relevant than detailed knowledge of the history of the conflict and the peoples involved.
By all means, policymakers should read this book. They should be somewhat careful, however, about living it. The public virtue of successful ends cannot be totally separated from the individual private virtue of seeking morally desirable and appropriate means.
Rating: 
Summary: No, we can't just get along.
Review: Finally, a well read and educated person who can offer to the reader the "big picture". This book should be on the "must read" list of every person on Earth who cares about the future of peace on this planet and an understanding of why things are the way they are vis a vis the human condition. If you think Hobbes was correct, then you will love this book. If you don't know who Hobbes was or what he wrote, then by all means buy this book. The greatest rule of History is that mankind is the same now as it has ever been and ever will be. Our language, dress, and "toys" are different, but the things that make us tick are eternal (much to our dismay). Please, do yourself a favor and read this book. Nevermind the naysayers. The honest person knows down deep that Bacon, Machiavelli and Hobbes are correct. Rouseau was an idiot.
Rating: 
Summary: Not the best book by Kaplan
Review: Initially there is a question, most often regarding the exact "position" of a country/civilization in the broad stream of history, and then there are landscapes. Traveling through these landscapes in turn give rise to a renewed set of questions, followed by reflections, analyses, and theory, all to comprehend what are observed. This is the path taken in the majority of Kaplan's publications to date. In Warrior Politics Kaplan takes the reverse route: theories (to be precise, classics such as Machiavelli and Sun Tzu) precede Kaplan's ever-keen observations, which serve to furnish the theories.As Kaplan acknowledges in the book's preface, this route is not where he most excels. The chapters, albeit strung together with the common theme of "pragmatism" (hence the subtitle "Why Leadership Requires a Pagan Ethos"), are more or less independent. The persuasive power, which his other publications exude so convincingly, is not to be found in this monograph. It is his observations in the field, firmly rooted on earth, that makes Kaplan's writings compelling, and this book does not make the most of such observations. I suspect that Kaplan required a period to recharge himself with literature in between journeys, and that the book is the result of such period. I enjoyed chapter 9, titled "The World of Achilles: Ancient Soldiers, Modern Warriors" the most, because it was there where Kaplan's voice emerged most unequivocally. There I found statements that I at first doubted, but later on admitted while observing the outcomes of the Iraq war (March 2003). Some of such statements were that 1) going to war would be less of a democratic decision, that 2) assassinations for achieving military objectives would become prevalent, and that 3) the media is becoming a world power in its own right. Those who are interested in this chapter in particular, please refer to The National Interest magazine's 2001/02 winter edition, which is available online for free at nationalinterest.org. For interested Kaplan readers, I suggest picking up "The Ends of the Earth" or "Eastward to Tartary" instead. Kaplan's pragmatic assertions that run through Warrior Politics come to life much more vividly there with context.
Rating:
Summary: Not the best book by Kaplan
Review: Initially there is a question, most often regarding the exact "position" of a country/civilization in the broad stream of history, and then there are landscapes. Traveling through these landscapes in turn give rise to a renewed set of questions, followed by reflections, analyses, and theory, all to comprehend what are observed. This is the path taken in the majority of Kaplan's publications to date. In Warrior Politics Kaplan takes the reverse route: theories (to be precise, classics such as Machiavelli and Sun Tzu) precede Kaplan's ever-keen observations, which serve to furnish the theories. As Kaplan acknowledges in the book's preface, this route is not where he most excels. The chapters, albeit strung together with the common theme of "pragmatism" (hence the subtitle "Why Leadership Requires a Pagan Ethos"), are more or less independent. The persuasive power, which his other publications exude so convincingly, is not to be found in this monograph. It is his observations in the field, firmly rooted on earth, that makes Kaplan's writings compelling, and this book does not make the most of such observations. I suspect that Kaplan required a period to recharge himself with literature in between journeys, and that the book is the result of such period. I enjoyed chapter 9, titled "The World of Achilles: Ancient Soldiers, Modern Warriors" the most, because it was there where Kaplan's voice emerged most unequivocally. There I found statements that I at first doubted, but later on admitted while observing the outcomes of the Iraq war (March 2003). Some of such statements were that 1) going to war would be less of a democratic decision, that 2) assassinations for achieving military objectives would become prevalent, and that 3) the media is becoming a world power in its own right. Those who are interested in this chapter in particular, please refer to The National Interest magazine's 2001/02 winter edition, which is available online for free at nationalinterest.org. For interested Kaplan readers, I suggest picking up "The Ends of the Earth" or "Eastward to Tartary" instead. Kaplan's pragmatic assertions that run through Warrior Politics come to life much more vividly there with context.
Rating:
Summary: A good introduction
Review: Kaplan does a good job relating history to current issues facing American foreign policy makers. The essays are purposefully compact and light on theoretical and philosophical backing. For example, Kaplan's handling of the philosophical antinomies of necessity and freedom is overly simplistic and does not really speak to the issue as raised by the historical figures of political philosophy he discusses. Kaplan references the conceptual political systems of realist philosophers but does not attempt to present a thorough delineation of political realism as such, choosing rather to rely on the veracity of the insights of the likes of Hobbes, Machiavelli and Thucydides put forth in truncated form. As a result, those who are realists in the sense that Kaplan champions will find the book insightful; those who are not are unlikely to to be persueded to Kaplan's way of seeing things. Overall however the book is a good introduction to those looking for a realistic approach to foreign policy that is grounded in real historical scholarship rather than foreign policy which is merely the expression of the kind of juridical utopianism that seeks to avoid all conflict and dominates much of the debate in Europe and the United States today. Also, Kaplan's work sheds light on the differences between Neoconservative approaches to foreign policy in the United States (which are usually antihistorical in many ways, dedidedly unpagan, and often dripping with an overbearing American exceptionalism) and a more consistent, intellectual, and far less chauvinistic political Neorealism. For those looking for more in the realistic vein after reading _Warrior Politics_ (outside of the sources Kaplan references) I would suggest an essay from a great modern political and social scientist Kaplan does not discuss, Max Weber and his "Politics as a Vocation." It deals with many of the fundamental issues touched on by Kaplan and provides much of the theoretical foundation--backed with the voluminous empirical and historical sociological research of a great social scientist--for the arguments advanced but not fully explained.
Rating:
Summary: An Ancient Approach to A Modern World
Review: Kaplan really hits the mark here. While many people may feel that his writing is cynical and that he draws on questionable analogies, he has really done an outstanding job of presenting his point. While the parallels he draws between U.S. conflicts and ancient ones are not always perfect, they do demonstrate the general theme of history repeating itself, an idea that many "modern" Americans would like to forget, as they see themselves as somehow more enlightened than those who came before them. With the constant buzz of technological advancement all around us it can be difficult to remember that when you strip away the marketing hype we are still just humans in search of the same basic desires (sustinence, shelter, and procreation) with an ever increasing capacity to wage war (at a distance and without moral backlash) to achieve and protect these aims.
An equally important contribution Kaplan makes with this book is simply a primer for amatuer political theorists. He addresses the central themes of a host of great political philosophers, creating an outstanding book list for anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of political philosophy.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: Kaplan's brilliant essay should be read by every citizen deeply concerned about America's role in the world and the realities of an evolving and uncertain global system. Kaplan is a talented reporter with a keen understanding of the depth of violence and chaos in much of the world (see his The Coming Anarchy). He has been in key parts of the turbulent third world and he understands the objective realities of millions of rootless young men with desperate futures. He describes vividly the path to a deep reversion to ethnic and religious fanaticism offered as a way of life that to many young men is more fulfilling than a life of poverty without a cause. Kaplan argues correctly that the modern world is much like the ancient world. Humans are human and the problem of violence in and against society is as eternal as Cain and Abel. He skillfully carries us from Churchill's The River War (a study of the British role in the Sudan 1881-1898) a book Kaplan first bought in Khartoum in the mid-1980s. Kaplan understands that the roots of historic conflict run much deeper than today's story and he combines Churchill's personal sense of history with Churchill's role in history. Kaplan carries us through the lessons of Thucydides, Sun T'zu, Livy, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Kant and a series of other scholars who have tried to cope with the challenge of violence and human society. He offers intelligent insights into America's role in the world, the inevitable nature of third world violence in the next half-century and the challenge of creating effective responses and sustainable strategies and institutions. I highly recommend Kaplan's new book to anyone who is trying to understand what needs to be done to response to September 11. There are a number of references in this book to asymmetric power, fanaticism and the intelligent use of unsuspected force outside the rules of modern state warfare, which are prescient of what we are now living through.
Rating: 
Summary: Unrealistic realism
Review: Like many of the previous reviewers, I found this to be a fascinating attempt to situate modern politics and foreign policy within the context of history. I was sympathetic with his view that little changes over time. However, his commentary, analogies and quotes always seemed unsatisfying.
At the core of my problem with this book is Kaplan's belief in "Realism". As with other Realists, there's always a sense of short sightedness in his analysis. Like Machiavelli, he plays with morality and never really takes it seriously. Yet history and modernity have shown repeatedly that morality has a real, tangible quality [though not enough to obscure self-interest]. And most people seem to know the difference between talk about morality and virtue, and the actual practice of them. I've never met a person who doesn't recognize this distinction when criticizing American foreign policy. In country after country, this hypocrisy has had very real effects.
Realists, then, have a rather narrow, and naive, concept of what motivates human action and I think that's why they cause more problems than they solve. Kaplan's book is a blatant example of this unrealistic Realism.
Rating:
Summary: Ancient Philosophers Remain Relevant
Review: Robert D. Kaplan, a correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, makes a persuasive case that the wisdom of the ancient philosophers - Livy, Sun-Tzu, Thucydides, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Malthus, Kant and Tiberius - is relevant to today's political challenges. Provocative, profound and penetrating, this book wrests lessons from the past for the leaders of today. There is no question that we live in dangerous times; times that require a new type of leadership and leader. Kaplan, using maxims, warnings and examples from history, clearly demonstrates the enduring relevance of ancient governance to the modern world. This lucid, well-written book is a must for any student of current affairs or anyone aspiring to statesmanship.
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