Robert Kaplan on Why Geography Matters
OpenCanada interviews Robert Kaplan, the author of The Revenge of Geography.
Robert D. Kaplan is Chief Geopolitical Analyst for Stratfor, non-resident senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security in Washington, D.C., and a long-time foreign correspondent for The Atlantic. OpenCanada talked to him about his new book, The Revenge of Geography: What the Map Tells Us About Coming Conflicts and the Battle Against Fate. Kaplan argues convincingly that geography is a necessary but not sufficient determinant of foreign policy – the U.S. must respond to the rise of China, but cannot neglect Mexico. Readers are left with little doubt as to the continuing relevance of geopolitics and the risks of ignoring our place on the map.
Robert Kaplan on the extent to which geography matters, why we should all be realists, and how the U.S. still has the resources to operate on a global map:
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On the misconceived “defeat” of geography at the end of the Cold War, and how an appreciation of geography is even more crucial in a globalizing world:
On how maps help us understand the recent spread of protests around the Greater Middle East:
On why examining international relations through the longer-term lens of geography can provide insight into the most intractable conflicts, including U.S.-Iran relations:
