Warrior Politics: Why Leadership Demands a Pagan Ethos

Books of this nature are always controversial. It's why you will see a number of 1 star ratings and 5 star ratings mixed in the reviews. Most of these ratings are because the reviewer either passionately agrees with the book's main argument, or vehemently disagrees. I don't believe that is proper. This book advances an argument for Realism in policy decisions. It specifically focuses on foreign affairs. Realism, by the way, is a term used in International Relations to refer to a set of theories on human nature. Realism and Idealism are polar opposites of each other and often define the conflicts we see in our political system. For a balanced description of each theory see Thomas Sowell's book "A Conflict of Visions". For a short definition Realism defines human nature as inherently bringing about conflict. All people act on self-interest as their motivating factor, etc. For the philosophers of the world this is a lot like psychological egoism in a political theory. Think Machiavelli, Hobbes and Leviathan, etc. This theory has always been controversial and it has constantly been accused of being associated with fascism. Its links to fascism are debatable, but its importance in our modern society is not. Both Madison and Hamilton (founders of the U.S.) believed in realism and used some of its tenets as principles in setting up our current government. Here's the long and the short of it. This book is well-written (although some of the historical examples could be better tied to the principle he is discussing). It is extremely informative. And the argument, whether you agree or disagree with it, is powerful. Whether you agree with Realism, Idealism, or you're not too sure where you stand this is a book you should read when educating yourself on foreign affairs or political discourse. Love it or hate it this book deserves a place in your library. It is that important.

Warrior Politics: Why Leadership Demands a Pagan Ethos Robert KaplanVintage Books, 2002.198 pages. The end of the Cold War spurred a furious debate in intellectual circles as to the nature of the emerging world order. A decade later, it became abundantly clear that the world had become a more difficult and in some ways more dangerous place. Whether it was due to the "clash of civilizations" or the continuation for the Hegelian struggle for recognition, Samuel P. Huntington was accurate in his assessment that "the moment of euphoria at the end of the Cold War generated an illusion of harmony, which was soon revealed to be exactly that." In 2000, Robert Kaplan published a series of essays collectively titled, The Coming Anarchy. As a first hand witness to unspeakable horrors in the poorest regions of the world, Kaplan warned that "the withering away of central governments, the rise of tribal and regional domains, the unchecked spread of disease, and the growing pervasiveness of war" were merely beyond the horizon, implying that Americans that have long been accustomed to ignoring the plight of the third world can no longer afford to do so. In his latest work, Warrior Politics, Kaplan offers a refreshing perspective to confronting the challenges endemic to a country caught in a "unipolar moment" . In his exploration of the works of venerated philosophers and historians such as Livy, Sun-Tzu, and Hobbes, Kaplan discovers the timelessness of the human condition and the utter hubris of the "post-modern" world. Kaplan rejects idealistic whimsy as a methodology for foreign policy and advocates instead a "pagan ethos" that embraces the "ancient tradition of skepticism and constructive realism." In Warrior Politics, Kaplan endorses not the militancy that sparked the conflagrations of the twentieth century but the stoicism of the ancient Romans and Chinese that sustained their empires through the centuries due, in large part, to policies that reflected their deep respect for the wisdom gleaned from their study of history. Kaplan's essay is a colorful amalgamation of history and philosophy, as well as an admonition to modernists who forget the richness and relevance of antiquity in contemporary times and purists who tend to ignore the vexing complexity of virtue. Kaplan dispels the popular illusion that pagan virtues are antithetical to American ideals. The success of American democracy and capitalism is due to inherent checks against human excesses in government, and appeals to human self-interest in commerce. The Founding Fathers were sober realists who possessed a rather grim perspective on the human condition. The dour restraints on the new republic reflected not only their own political experiences but also their devotion to the works of Hobbes. Pagan philosophers such as Thucydides and modern day realists such as Kaplan recognized the "bleak forces of human nature that lie just beneath the veneer of civilization" and praise not the mor

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.

More than at perhaps any other time in history, we have voluntarily elected leaders who seem to have forgotten much about the epochs that preceded their own. Robert Kaplan does a brilliant job of returning many of the most important highlights and thinkers of ancient history to the foreground, in a clear, lucid, and pragmatic style. As other commentators (as well as critics) have noted, this book is ideal for scholars interested in history and international relations, but more importantly perhaps, is the idea that it should be read by non-scholars, who being in positions of responsibility, have the greatest amount to gain from it. To be prosperous in our common futures we must constantly reexamine the past, and Kaplan accomplishes this seemingly Herculian task with great talent, and substantial brevity.

As a writer on international affairs and violent conflict, Robert Kaplan has one serious problem: He actually knows what he's talking about. For Americans who have not traveled widely in the wretched portions of the earth, or who have not served in the military, but who have absorbed the library-researched nonsense published by our academics, Kaplan can seem brutal and even off-putting. But, as one who has seen many of the same countries and conflicts that Kaplan has seen, I can attest that he is absolutely on the mark. In this, his most introspective book, in which his broad experience of the world permits Kaplan to read the classics of strategy and statecraft with an unusual depth, he offers a marvelous synthesis of the ancient world and the 21st century, driving home how many problems between states and peoples endure, no matter how many theorists wish them away. The prose is clean and handsome, the logic impeccable, and the relevance uncanny. This would have been a worthwhile read at any time, but after 9-11-01, it's value has soared even higher. Kaplan has seen, experienced, read and thought, and that puts him miles ahead of the campus crowd, who may have read and thought, but who have no idea of the stunning effects of violence on societies, of the smiles on the killers' faces, or of the smell of blood that has accompanied humankind throughout our history. This book is brave and out of step, and worth any hundred self-important volumes from university presses. It is also the most acute commentary on military thought available today. Engaging and admirable, I recommend it to all serious-minded Americans.