Eastward to Tartary, Robert Kaplan’s first book to focus on a single region since his bestselling Balkan Ghosts, introduces readers to an. Touted as the sequel to Kaplan’s Balkan Ghosts, which reportedly influenced President Clinton’s early policy thinking on the Balkans, Eastward to Tartary. Eastward to Tartary was written in the blood-letting ethnic civil war context in the former Yugoslavia. The book is described as the author’s “perspective.
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It felt like an odd choice to me to include Turkmenistan here? For example, Kaplan claims that inIslamist Welfare Party leader Necmettin Erbakan formed a “minority government” that was pushed from power by the Turkish military. The result is must reading for anyone concerned about the state of our world in the decades to come.
In Turkey, for instance, it is the Islamist party that is the modernizing force, and it is the secular old elite centered in the armed forces that has been the reactionary force holding back modernization.
Using millennia of history as his guide, he paints a hopeful picture for the potential of bustling trade ruled by humanistic pluralism historically present in the golden era of all the places he visits. That said, he was of course right to r It’s odd to look at this nearly 20 years after the trip it was written about.
Eastward to Tartary by Robert D. Kaplan | : Books
At the time when Eastward to Tartary was eaastward, the evidence of the political unrest in the Balkans are still fresh in our mind with the ongoing conflicts and civil wars so inherent to the. This review has been fastward because it contains spoilers.
Was it really that much of a surprise? I guess you could characterize his books as political travelogues, but they are more than that. Nov 18, Janet rated it really liked it. Sometimes he is right, sometimes wrong – neither he nor anyone he interviewed saw the Syrian civil war coming – but he is capturing moments in time when countries and their people were having to make choices.
Quotes from Eastward to Tarta Yet those countries also have a rich political and cultural history, skillfully traced by Kaplan, who prepared himself by extensive reading and by tartaty a supporting network of local friends, all these acknowledged at the end. Unfortunately, though, such a regime might well have a future.
One of the most interesting things to me was reading about places I’ve visited, usually about 20 years after Kaplan’s visit. Eastward to Tartary had a lot influence on Clinton and Bush administrations.
Eastward to Tartary – Robert D. Kaplan – Google Books
Some of what he says may be wrong, but the idea is to THINK about the problems, to grasp the interrelations of the several countries he visited, to try to gather together the multitude of impressions and glean some overarching tendencies. But fourth, I like the book because his comments so often hit tartaryy.
He lives with his wife and son in western Massachusetts. I enjoyed it overall as a learning experience but I also enjoy Kaplan’s writing which is often beautiful: Veel problemen die hij beschrijft, waren er toen en ook nu nog, enkele weken geleden zijn er o. Apr 09, Liam rated it it was amazing. Kaplan is a correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly and the bestselling author of seven previous books on travel and foreign affairs, translated into many languages, including Ot Ghosts, The Arabists, The Ends of tatrary Earthand The Coming Anarchy.
It is interesting to read this 1 Crossposted to books in days.
Eastward to Tartary – By Robert D. Kaplan
If you are looking for a book that provides estward and context, he is a great writer to go to. There is a lot to say about Turkmenistan in relation to Azerbaijan, for example, but isolating it from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan at least two of which he covers in a different book felt unnatural. And most interesting Eastwadd think was the fact that the area east of the Caspian Turkmenistan is desert and has a great deal of oil. It has to grow.
I’m not sure I would agree with all of his opinions, and I certainly sometimes wished that he could just shut up about the oil and tartay natural reserves, but as his writing is never offensive or aggressive, I think it was a good introduction to another way of thinking. Incredibly interesting writing at eastwadr importa A decade after writing “Balkan Ghosts” Robert Kaplan wrote another travelogue returning to the Balkans but also crossing into the Caucasus and the Levant. As such it comes across dated and dull.
Most interesting to me were how clearly the history of these tratary shows in their current culture and situation. Side trips to Syria, Lebanon, and Israel are also insightful into current events. Dec 10, Jamie rated it really liked it Shelves: As the largest city and port of Azerbaijan, it also boasts a prime location on the Absheron Peninsula, wrapped by the wondrous Caspian Sea.
Add religion to an already volatile mix and the situation is unlikely to end well. If Kaplan is right, now is the time to learn, as these countries will be explosive zones in the 21st Century both in economic growth and conflict.
Jan 20, Fern Richardson rated it really liked it Shelves: This is the result of increasing unemployment, increasing poverty and the eroding economic systems of the countries in the area. Kaplan is an excellent writer who is able to describe rartary, places, and complex events with great clarity. With exception of or so years under Roman rule from Rome This came as such a revelation to me.