Waste Land

Praise

“Robert D. Kaplan is one of the most sophisticated and incisive geopolitical analysts of today’s world. His latest work is typically elegant, a tribute to the role that history can play in illuminating a path for policymakers in an ever-more-uncertain and chaotic world.”—John Bew, professor of history, King’s College London; author of Castlereagh and Clement Attlee; foreign policy adviser to three British prime ministers

“Darkly brilliant . . . In this deeply erudite literary, cultural, and historical narrative, Kaplan offers a warning but also a hope that America amid such confusion and danger will be all right.”—Victor Davis Hanson, New York Times bestselling author of The End of Everything

“A compelling, stark, critically important book that conveys the urgency of the present moment and the unprecedented challenges that face mankind, Waste Land solidifies Kaplan’s reputation as one of the truly masterful observers and thinkers of our time.”—General David Petraeus, U.S. Army (Ret.), former commander of the surge in Iraq

“Kaplan is one of my favorite Neo-Malthusian pessimists. He has an incredible bandwidth—prodigious reader, inveterate traveler, journalist, thinker, writer. Waste Land’s relevance manifests itself immediately.”—Joe Klein, New York Times bestselling author of Primary Colors, writer of the Sanity Clause newsletter

“One of the great geopolitical thinkers of our time has produced yet another compelling, scholarly, and eminently readable book of thoughtful global analysis—a cautionary tale of absolute brilliance.”—Admiral James Stavridis, U.S. Navy (Ret.), 16th Supreme Allied Commander of NATO

“Kaplan challenges readers with the breadth of his vision and erudition, and his grasp of so many diverse strands of culture and history makes this a great read for those looking to make some sense of things.”—Booklist, starred review

“A provocative thought experiment, of much interest to students of contemporary geopolitics.”—Kirkus Reviews

“A provocative but penetrating diagnosis of the anomie that marks the evolving international order. The deconcentration of power, the fraying of authority, and the weakening of institutions. . . . All this together foreshadows a world crisis that looks uncomfortably like Weimar redux, but with even deadlier consequences this time around. . . . The reader will not find a better guide toward that end than Kaplan’s Waste Land.”—Ashley J. Tellis, Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace