Asias Cauldron, Robert D. Kaplan
Asias Cauldron, Robert D. Kaplan
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Asia's Cauldron
The South China Sea and the End of a Stable Pacific

Author: Robert D. Kaplan

Narrator: Michael Prichard

Unabridged: 8 hr 22 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 03/25/2014


Synopsis

Over the last decade, the center of world power has been quietly shifting from Europe to Asia. With oil reserves of several billion barrels, an estimated nine hundred trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and several centuries' worth of competing territorial claims, the South China Sea in particular is a simmering pot of potential conflict. The underreported military buildup in the area where the Western Pacific meets the Indian Ocean means that it will likely be a hinge point for global war and peace for the foreseeable future.

In Asia's Cauldron, Robert D. Kaplan offers up a vivid snapshot of the nations surrounding the South China Sea, the conflicts brewing in the region at the dawn of the twenty-first century, and their implications for global peace and stability. One of the world's most perceptive foreign policy experts, Kaplan interprets America's interests in Asia in the context of an increasingly assertive China. He explains how the region's unique geography fosters the growth of navies but also impedes aggression. And he draws a striking parallel between China's quest for hegemony in the South China Sea and the United States' imperial adventure in the Caribbean more than a century ago.

To understand the future of conflict in East Asia, Kaplan argues, one must understand the goals and motivations of its leaders and its people. Part travelogue, part geopolitical primer, Asia's Cauldron takes us on a journey through the region's boom cities and ramshackle slums: from Vietnam, where the superfueled capitalism of the erstwhile colonial capital, Saigon, inspires the geostrategic pretensions of the official seat of government in Hanoi, to Malaysia, where a unique mix of authoritarian Islam and Western-style consumerism creates quite possibly the ultimate postmodern society; and from Singapore, whose "benevolent autocracy" helped foster an economic miracle, to the Philippines, where a different brand of authoritarianism under Ferdinand Marcos led not to economic growth but to decades of corruption and crime.

At a time when every day's news seems to contain some new story—large or small—that directly relates to conflicts over the South China Sea, Asia's Cauldron is an indispensable guide to a corner of the globe that will affect all of our lives for years to come.

About Robert D. Kaplan

Robert D. Kaplan is the author of over a dozen books on foreign affairs and travel, including Balkan Ghosts, Eastward to Tartary, and Warrior Politics. He is a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security in Washington and a national correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly, and was recently the distinguished visiting professor in national security at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. Robert is a member of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Joel

Insightful primer on the geopolitical relationship between China and Southeast Asia. Being Malaysian, the chapter on Malaysia was of particular interest, as it allowed me to gauge the accuracy and depth of Kaplan's analysis. Unfortunately there are glaring mistakes littered throughout the chapter, e......more

Goodreads review by Riku

Discusses in some detail the geo-politics of the South-China sea and tries to show the world that is brewing in that cauldron - one where an assertive China will draw the U.S and its neighbors into conflict. This has echoes of Huntington in that a culturally assertive China is intent on creating a w......more

Goodreads review by Liam

August 1, 2015- Kaplan seems to have some sort of bias against the Philippines- I suspect this may be because he does not find Filipinos to be sufficiently "Asian", and perhaps too Americanized. I may be over-sensitive to this, for two reasons, which are the following: in the first place, my wife is......more