First published 2010
Robert D. Kaplan examines the Indian Ocean region and demonstrates why this area will become the center of global power in the twenty-first century. American maps typically minimize the Indian Ocean, splitting it along the edges while highlighting the Atlantic and Pacific where twentieth-century conflicts played out. Kaplan travels from the Horn of Africa to the Indonesian archipelago, analyzing the economic and naval strategies of rising powers like China and India. He explores countries across Monsoon Asia, including Pakistan, Indonesia, Burma, Oman, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Tanzania. The region faces volatile challenges from weak infrastructure, young populations drawn to extremism, and nuclear proliferation. Here the entire arc of Islam stretches from the Sahara Desert to Indonesian islands, where the political future of Islam may be decided. Five centuries of Western dominance slowly gives way to indigenous powers, particularly India and China. Kaplan combines policy analysis with travel reporting and historical perspective to show how explosive population growth, climate change, and extremist politics destabilize this critical region and affect American interests globally.
Genres: history, international-relations, politics, non-fiction, 21st-century, current-affairs, africa, asian-american
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical, informative
Setting: Africa, Asia, Indonesia, Indian Ocean, Pakistan, Burma, Oman, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Tanzania
Period: 21st Century
323 pages · Hardcover · Random House