Waste Land
Robert D Kaplan, Hurst £20

THIS account of “A World in Permanent Crisis” — the subtitle of Robert D Kaplan’s latest, self-admittedly “obsessively negative” forecast for humankind — is anything but a reassuring read. He exudes an impressive, almost overweening confidence in his political analysis of where we stand and where we are going.  

Kaplan has long been on the fringe of US governments. His advice and influence with Presidents Clinton, the younger Bush, Obama and Biden, owing to a long career as a widely travelled war correspondent and political commentator, were eloquent, well-read and able to support any line of argument with ready references. He is particularly interested in the influence of geopolitics on international relations. Consequently, he has held military and defence consultancies and he is a prominent member of several influential right-wing think tanks.