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A review by adammp
Earning the Rockies: How Geography Shapes America's Role in the World by Robert D. Kaplan
4.0
In many ways 'Earning the Rockies' feels like a capstone for the arc of Robert Kaplan's work from the mid-nineties through today. It is more a collection of two essays than a book, but it is well worth reading.
The first essay follows Kaplan's journey across continental United States, framing its narrative with the history of America's westward expansion and the state of America's heartland today.
The second essay, far shorter than the first, focuses on the United State's role in the broader world. Drawing on themes established in the first essay, it defends Kaplan's description of the United States as an empire, his advocacy of realism, and limited American engagement with the rest of the world.
Kaplan's defence of realism, particularism over universalism, and what he describes as 'cruel objectivity' is the maturation and conclusion of controversial arguments that he started a long time ago. They are best appreciated as such. While its style is accessible enough, I would hesitate to recommend this book to anyone who isn't already familiar with at least some of Kaplan's previous work. I appreciated the themes 'Earning the Rockies' addresses more as the conclusion of a conversation started in Kaplan's earlier works (and continued by his numerous critics).
The first essay follows Kaplan's journey across continental United States, framing its narrative with the history of America's westward expansion and the state of America's heartland today.
The second essay, far shorter than the first, focuses on the United State's role in the broader world. Drawing on themes established in the first essay, it defends Kaplan's description of the United States as an empire, his advocacy of realism, and limited American engagement with the rest of the world.
Kaplan's defence of realism, particularism over universalism, and what he describes as 'cruel objectivity' is the maturation and conclusion of controversial arguments that he started a long time ago. They are best appreciated as such. While its style is accessible enough, I would hesitate to recommend this book to anyone who isn't already familiar with at least some of Kaplan's previous work. I appreciated the themes 'Earning the Rockies' addresses more as the conclusion of a conversation started in Kaplan's earlier works (and continued by his numerous critics).