Waste Land

'Robert Kaplan is one of the most sophisticated and incisive geopolitical analysts of today's world. His latest work is typically elegant, grounded in a vast range of philosophy, travel and literature. The book is a tribute to the role that history can play in illuminating a path for policymakers in an ever-more uncertain and chaotic world.'

-- John Bew, Professor of History, King's College London, and senior foreign policy advisor at No. 10 Downing Street

'A compelling, stark, critically important book that conveys the urgency of the present moment and the unprecedented challenges that face mankind. Once again, Robert Kaplan has brilliantly distilled an exceedingly complex set of issues that have to be resolved. Waste Land solidifies Robert Kaplan's reputation as one of the truly masterful observers and thinkers of our time!'

-- General David Petraeus, US Army (Ret.), former Commander of the Surge in Iraq, US Central Command, and Coalition Forces in Afghanistan, and former Director of the CIA

'One of the great geopolitical thinkers of our time has produced yet another compelling, scholarly, and eminently readable book of thoughtful global analysis. Weaving everything from the gorgeous poetry of T.S. Eliot to the neo-realistic thinking of Jeane Kirkpatrick to the tragic history of the Weimar Republic, Robert Kaplan provides a dark mirror held to a dangerous world that commands our attention page after page. A cautionary tale of absolute brilliance!'

-- James Stavridis USN (Ret), 16th Supreme Allied Commander of NATO

'Kaplan is one of my favorite Neo-Malthusian pessimists. He has an incredible bandwidth--prodigious reader, inveterate traveller, journalist, thinker, writer. Waste Land's relevance manifests itself immediately.'

-- Joe Klein, New York Times bestselling author of Primary Colors, writer of the Sanity Clause newsletter

'A darkly brilliant, and engaging survey of our world in chaos. And yet in this deeply erudite literary, cultural, and historical narrative, Kaplan offers both warning and hope that America amid such confusion and danger will be alright--if it remembers to reestablish and cherish its traditions of order, the rule of law, moderation, humility, unity, borders, and its unique commitment to economic, individual, and constitutional freedom and tolerance.'

-- Victor Davis Hanson, author of The End of Everything

'Robert D. Kaplan’s Waste Land is a provocative but penetrating diagnosis of the anomie that marks the evolving international order. The deconcentration of power, the fraying of authority, and the weakening of institutions, which are occurring against the backdrop of revolutions in technology that are producing a simulacrum of social intimacy, threaten to engender persistent economic fragility, a resurgence of illiberal ideologies, and the legitimation of new autocratic despots.'

-- Ashley J. Tellis, Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

'Waste Land is a provocative but penetrating diagnosis of the anomie that marks the evolving international order. Obviously, nothing is inevitable in history but perspicaciously understanding its rhythms is essential to help avert the looming catastrophe. The reader will not find a better guide toward that end than Kaplan's Waste Land.'

-- Ashley J. Tellis, Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace