This book review analyses Robert D. Kaplan's book 'The Warrior Politics: A Pagan Ethos'.

“Any discussion of the new century, however, must start with the old one.” 

This line grasped my attention while reading the book called as 'Warrior Politics: A Pagan Ethos' by Robert. D Kaplan. I thought that beginning with this line as my book review would be accurate in relation to what the book talks about. The author of ‘The Warrior Politics’ is an esteemed journalist and an analyst, and throughout the book, he talks about why the past is important and relevant for the present-day authors and writers and how we can connect it with foreign policy.

Kaplan in the book explains about foreign policy to the readers by comparing and relating everything to the past. The term “ancient” has been used quite often in the book. The explanation about why the past is important and relevant in today’s times for present-day writers has been expressed and talked about throughout the entire book. He stresses why the authors and writers of today’s times should be objective in nature and not think only from their point of view. 

“It is a sin for any author or writer to only see from his point of view.” At the same time, he contradicts himself by saying that “objectivity is illusory.”

He talked about foreign policy in terms of great historic wars in which thinkers like Malthus, Thomas Hobbes, Churchill and many more were involved. The author talked about great thinkers like them and their role which is still relevant in the present day to study and understand foreign policy. The book gave its readers an ‘ancient backdrop’, talking about the great wars and how they are relevant today. He kept a strong emphasis on how we should not forget the past and act as oblivious towards the great wars like Churchill’s River War and Livy’s Punic War and many more which are enshrined in humanity's legacy . According to the author, to understand the future, we need to understand the past.

After reading the book, I felt that the author wanted to connect the past with the present in order to make his readers understand the future, which was marked in the quote, 

Another quote which was in the opening chapter that caught my eyes was, “My focus is on the dark side of every development not because future will necessarily be bad but because that is what foreign policy crisis have been all about.”

In my opinion, reading this book was a delightful journey to the past which immersed me in the details of different wars and the ideas of great-old thinkers. I enjoyed reading about his views on foreign policy and the way he praised the thinkers and explained how he felt motivated to read about them and include them in his book. 

I recommend everyone to read this book at least once to know more about the author and how he perceives foreign policy. This book will be great for any aspiring writers as he explains them to not be subjective in nature and to not forget the past. 

Personally, I loved the way Kaplan has bridged the gap between the past and the present as many authors focus on the present and the future, especially in terms of foreign policy and international relations. One thing that I loved about his writing in this book was that at the end of each chapter, he praised all the thinkers whom he was talking about in the entire chapter and he told his readers what inspired him to read and study about them. For instance, he said in the second chapter that 

“romanticizing our past is something to be cultivated rather than to be ashamed of.”

However, I did not entirely relate to some of the instances from the book while reading. 

Firstly, I found the author contradictory in nature. He stresses a lot upon the fact that objectivity is something that present-day authors and writers need to focus on and adapt rather than being subjective. But, he also calls objectivity “illusory” which reflects his pessimistic thoughts in several parts of the book. He tried to explain foreign policy but, he only praised a few thinkers and wars of the past with no focus on his present day counterparts.

According to him, the future and present are only relevant because it is in continuance of the past. He links everything to the past and especially tells his readers to understand the foreign policy they need to understand  the past without any mention of the modern day dynamics.

Overall, Kaplan did a good job throughout the book trying to explain the foreign policy crisis to his readers. The most commendable fact about the book is that it talks about foreign policy by explaining and relating it to the past, present and future.

He is a classical realist as he thinks and he wrote in the book about human nature and the way it is cruel. In chapter four, he wrote, 

“Whatever we may profess, human behavior is guided by fear (phobos), self-interest (kerdos) and honor (doxa). These aspects of human nature cause war and instability, accounting for…… the human condition. The human condition, in turn, leads to political crisis….”

Lastly, I would suggest all types of people ranging from students to adults who are interested in the world of international relations and foreign policy and people who connect a lot with the past, to give this book a read as according to me this book is like a ‘dish’. It has a variety of flavors ranging from different great wars of the past, a prediction of the future, a message for the young writers and future generations to not neglect the past and be in touch with it, and to talk about people like Churchill and Thucydides. There were many instances for example where I felt that Kaplan who hysterical as well. 

Overall, I enjoyed reading the book as it had a variety of ideas and things to offer from different areas of thought but it also did not deviate from the original motto which was foreign policy.

Book Review on The Warrior Politics: A Pagan Ethos

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