Robert D. Kaplan

About the author: Robert D. Kaplan is a senior fellow at the New American Foundation and the author of seven books on international affairs, including The Coming Anarchy: Shattering the Dreams of the Post-Cold War.

The September 2001 terrorist attacks marked the end of an era that began in 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the cold war, during which the United States tried to impose its vision of democracy on the world. The American people learned in the 2001 attacks that preservation of security at home and power abroad is the primary function of foreign policy. They will tolerate alliances with questionable regimes and restrictions on their own liberties in the coming struggle against terrorism.

President George W. Bush...