Earning the Rockies

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An incisive portrait of the American landscape that shows how geography continues to determine America s role in the world from the bestselling author of The Revenge of Geography and Balkan Ghosts As a boy, Robert D Kaplan listened to his truck driver father tell evocative stories about traveling across America in his youth, travels in which he learned to understand the country literally from the ground up There was a specific phrase from Kaplan s childhood that captured this perspective A westward traveler must earn the Rockies by driving not flying across the flat Midwest and Great Plains In Earning the Rockies,Kaplan undertakes his own cross country journey to recapture an appreciation of American geography often lost in the jet age Traveling west, in the same direction as the pioneers, Kaplan traverses a rich and varied landscape that remains the primary source of American power Along the way, he witnesses both prosperity and decline increasingly cosmopolitan cities that thrive on globalization, impoverished towns denuded by the loss of manufacturing and paints a bracingly clear picture of America today The history of westward expansion is examined here in a new light as a story not just of genocide and individualism, but also of communalism and a respect for the limits of a water starved terrain, a frontier experience that bent our national character toward pragmatism Kaplan shows how the great midcentury works of geography and geopolitics by Bernard DeVoto, Walter Prescott Webb, and Wallace Stegner are relevant today than ever before Concluding his journey at Naval Base San Diego, Kaplan looks out across the Pacific Ocean to the next frontier China, India, and the emerging nations of Asia And in the final chapter, he provides a gripping description of an anarchic world and explains why America s foreign policy response ought to be rooted in its own geographical situation In this short, intense meditation on the American landscape, Robert D Kaplan reminds us of an overlooked source of American strength the fact that we are a nation, empire, and continent all at once Earning the Rockies is an urgent reminder of how a nation s geography still foreshadows its future, and how we must reexamine our own landscape in order to confront the challenges that lie before us Advance praise for Earning the Rockies A text both evocative and provocative for readers who like to think In his final sections, Kaplan discusses in scholarly but accessible detail the significant role that America has played and must play in this shuddering worldKirkus Reviews Earning the Rockies is a brilliant reminder of the impact of America s geography on its strategy An essential complement to his previous work on the subject of geostrategy, Kaplan s latest contribution should be required reading Henry A Kissinger Robert D Kaplan uses America s unique geography and frontier experience to provide a lens changing vision of America s role in the world, one that will capture your imagination Unflinchingly honest, this refreshing approach shows how ideas from outside Washington, D.C., will balance America s idealism and pragmatism in dealing with a changed world A jewel of a book, Earning the Rockies lights the path ahead General Ret James Mattis Free Read [ Earning the Rockies ] By [ Robert D. Kaplan ] – kino-fada.fr The author is a think tank guy in foreign affairs and he has 17 books on that topic and travel In this book he looks inward to US history and geography and how American exceptionalism, due to our geographical richness and our history of westward expansion, has shaped our world view that leads us to remain a major and an interventionist world power This is not a new thesis Kaplan distills the work of three earlier scholars who had lifetimes of work exploring these topics Walter Prescott Web The author is a think tank guy in foreign affairs and he has 17 books on that topic and travel In this book he looks inward to US history and geography and how American exceptionalism, due to our geographical richness and our history of westward expansion, has shaped our world view that leads us to remain a major and an interventionist world power This is not a new thesis Kaplan distills the work of three earlier scholars who had lifetimes of work exploring these topics Walter Prescott Webb especially The Great Plains, 1931 Bernard DeVoto especially The Year of Decision 1846 published in 1942, and Mark Twain s America, 1932 and Wallace Stegner, especially Beyond the Hundredth Meridian John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the ...There are memoirs of road trips that are guaranteed to stand the test of time Francis Parkman s The Oregon Trail, John Steinbeck s Travels with Charley, Jack Kerouac s On the Road, and Ernesto Guevara s The Motorcycle Diaries to name just a few Robert D Kaplan s latest book describing his journey through the heartland of the United States in 2015 just as the primary season for the recent election was getting under way is probably not one of those But in its own way, Earning the Rockies Amer There are memoirs of road trips that are guaranteed to stand the test of time Francis Parkman s The Oregon Trail, John Steinbeck s Travels with Charley, Jack Kerouac s On the Road, and Ernesto Guevara s The Motorcycle Diaries to name just a few Robert D Kaplan s latest book describing his journey through the heartland of the United States in 2015 just as the primary season for the recent election was getting under way is probably not one of those But in its own way, Earning the Rockies American Ground and the Fate of Empire is just as important a book Kaplan took his trip during a defining moment in American history and through keen observations provided invaluable insights into the story behind the most mindboggling political upset in American history Kaplan, inspired by his fa...Based on the title, I didn t expect this book to be a travelogue I was expectingphilosophy,history Instead, we got Kaplan recounting his roadtrip and making assumptions If Kaplan would have stuck to the theoretical approach, he could have avoided the book s two biggest pitfalls The book was written during the Presidential Primaries of 2015 and 2016 This seems like ages ago now, and he makes many assumptions about the election that didn t happen Instead of actually talking Based on the title, I didn t expect this book to be a travelogue I was expectingphilosophy,history Instead, we got Kaplan recounting his roadtri...America is a continent The good folks of Mexico and Canada might have something to say about that Pittsburgh is a masculine city What about the wives, mothers, sisters People who live in red regions states are fearful of the slim pretty cosmopolitans of the urban coasts dropped jaw p 57 I m done I ve earned the Rockies from both sides, several times, and don t need Kaplan s weird vision to elucidate what seems obvious to me To know a country, spend time in it, with the people America is a continent The good folks of Mexico and Canada might have something to say about that Pittsburgh is a masculine city What about the wives, mothers, sisters People who live in red regions states are fearful of the slim pretty cosmopolitans of the urban coasts dropped jaw p 57 I m done I ve earned the Rockies from both sides, several times, and don t need Kaplan s weird vision to elucidate what seems...Robert s Kaplan s EARNING THE ROCKIES HOW GEOGRAPHY SHAPES AMERICAN S ROLE IN THE WORLD is a work of geographical determinism How could it be anything but that with a title like that But it s still a very good book, and I think it makes a successful argument for why geography has determined America s role in the world.The book begins with an extended exploration of the works of the American historian, Bernard DeVoto Kaplan revisits what he says is DeVoto s greatest work, THE YEAR OF DECISIO Robert s Kaplan s EARNING THE ROCKIES HOW GEOGRAPHY SHAPES AMERICAN S ROLE IN THE WORLD is a work of geographical determinism How could it be anything but that with a title like that But it s still a very good book, and I think it makes a successful argument for why geography has determined America s...When you flip the book over and look on the back at the endorsements for this book by Henry Kissinger, Gen David Petraeus and Gen James Mad Dog Mattis you realize that Kaplan has something important to tell you in this book It is not politically correct he speaks frankly about the dark side of America s history as well as its achievements, but he makes the case that America is exceptional and has a destiny fate to be the world leader and to be the city on a hill or the beacon of hope for When you flip the book over and look on the back at the endorsements for this book by Henry Kissinger, Gen David Petraeus and Gen James Mad Dog Mattis you realize that Kaplan has something important to tell you in this book It is not politically correct he speaks frankly about the dark side of America s history as well as its achievements, but he makes the case that America is exceptional and has a destiny fate to be the world leader and to be the city on a hill or the beacon of hope for millions around the world.Initially he draws on the history of the westward expansion and the doctrine of Manifest Destiny to describe how America grew to be the preeminent Superpower it is today He then spends time in the latter pages to analyze the current geopolitical situation in the world and America s response to those conditions He warns against the dangers of isolationism but balances it with a warning of getting b...This is a unique book a meditation on domestic geography that morphs into a commentary on international policy I confess that it s the geography that interested me most, having grown up in the Great Plains, which figure so prominently in Kaplan s thinking But his extrapolation from America s expansion westward to its quasi imperialism on the world stage is quite thought provoking, particularly given the present political climate This is not a long book, but it requires thinking always a goo This is a unique book a meditation on domestic geography that morphs into a commentary on interna...This is a bit like two books under one cover The first is a travelogue as Kaplan drives across the country He sees the decaying northeast, the either vibrant or dying midwest depending on if a university is nearby, or if tech industry is booming, or if large scale agriculture is feasible , the spread out great plains and Rockies, and the Pacific facing west Kaplan includes many interesting observations about this vast country, and his point is to show that America can t help but be a world l This is a bit like two books under one cover The first is a travelogue as Kaplan drives across the country He sees the decaying northeast, the either vibrant or dying midwest depending on if a university is nearby, or if tech industry is booming, or if large scale agriculture is feasible , the spread out great plains and Rockies, and the Pacific facing west Kaplan includes many interest...Geography is destiny, Kaplan argues persuasively in this fine, short book on topics he s been thinking about for a long time He makes a good case for American exceptionalism, based on our long experience with settling and conquering our frontier territories Geography brought the US great wealth, and hence great responsibilities He argues for continued support of what s left of the Pax Americana, where that s practical Avoiding for the most part West Africa and the Middle East Better to co Geography is destiny, Kaplan argues persuasively in this fine, short book on topics he s been thinking about for a long time He makes a good ca...Kaplan emphasizes the importance of geography when talking about our nation s history as well as geopolitical issues a very good and succinct discussion.

Earning the Rockies
  • 27 March 2017
  • Hardcover
  • 224 pages
  • 0399588213
  • Robert D. Kaplan
  • Earning the Rockies