The Return of Marco Polo's World

A bracing, ground-level assessment of American foreign policy over the past two decades, an era that includes 9/11, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the rise of Putin's Russia, increased Chinese aggression, the potential for war in North Korea, and more.

ANCHORED BY A MAJOR NEW ESSAY ABOUT CHANGING POWER DYNAMICS AMONG CHINA, EURASIA, AND AMERICA, which Kaplan wrote for the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment, and which is now released for public view.

Drawing on decades of first-hand experience as a foreign correspondent and military embed for The Atlantic, Robert D. Kaplan makes a powerful, clear-eyed case for what timeless principles should shape America's role in the world: a respect for the limits of Western-style democracy; a delineation between American interests versus American values; an awareness of the psychological toll of warfare; a projection of military power via a strong navy; and more.