Waste Land

Praise

“Mr. Kaplan’s analysis has enormous implications for U.S. strategy abroad. . . . Compelling and helpful . . . Despite Mr. Kaplan’s pessimism, his conclusion is the only right one.”—former national security advisor John Bolton, The Wall Street Journal

“A welcome new beginning for an already remarkable career.”—Applied Political Theory

“Timely . . . Heavyweight intellectual Robert D. Kaplan is an ideal guide to the madness.”—The Evening Standard

“Readers tempted to look away now—on the grounds that they have had their fill of laments for the waning of the ‘international rules-based order’—should, however, absolutely persevere.”—Financial Times

“Rich and dense with speculative analyses . . . a good tonic for readers seeking to grapple with the geopolitical uncertainty of the world today.”—The Strategist

“Waste Land is a well-written rumination on what may come next without very deft leadership working very smartly to avoid it.”—Washington Examiner

“Kaplan’s message is that our only hope as human beings in a chaotic and dangerous world moving at breathtaking speed is to act with moderation and restraint . . . Nothing is inevitable. The beginning of wisdom is to open our eyes.”—Max Hastings, Bloomberg

“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

“Provocative and wide-ranging.”—The Sunday Times

“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.”—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

“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 . . .”—Ashley J. Tellis, Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace