Robert Kaplan

Robert David Kaplan, the author of the book, is a major character in The Revenge of Geography in two senses. First, he actually places himself in various parts of the story, mostly in attempts to add narrative to what is an otherwise rather dry academic read. He is a character in a secondary sense in that it is his arguments and his thought process that are on display throughout the book. That is, Kaplan actually describes how his concept of geography and foreign policy has evolved over time.

Kaplan in known as an American journalist who has been published in all the major print outlets in the United States. While he is outside of the academic world in terms of his job, he is very much discussed in foreign policy academic circles and in government. An overarching view of his is that cultural, historical and geographical tensions...