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Het Aziatische Kruitvat (2014)

by Robert D. Kaplan(Favorite Author)

3.98 of 5 Votes: 4

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Spectrum

review 1: This was another great novel by Robert Kaplan, where he effectively describes and summarizes the position of each of the critical nations in Southeast Asia and how they are responding to China's growing maritime power. As an individual who has toured several of these countries during my 2012 deployment, I particularly enjoyed the perspective he brought to these countries and agree with his incisive observations.
review 2: Kaplan starts the book with some basic economics, geography and history of East Asia. Robert Kaplan says the Pacific will become unstable, but he does not think this must lead to war. Kaplan has found a niche writing books that are a cross between journalism and policy issues. Comparison of Asia to the Europe of 1914 is part of a bigger que... morestion about whether China just wants to be a benign regional hegemon, or if it has expansionist aims. Kaplan argues that comparisons to 1914 are overblown. He claims the big difference is Europe is a landscape; East Asia is a seascape and the oceans will act as a barrier against aggression. The author suggests the better comparison is America’s 19th century approach to the Caribbean. He says China is seeking an Asian version of the Monroe Doctrine.One reason he is sanguine is the absence of a great ideological struggle. Kaplan insists that the Communist party will not necessarily bully abroad because it bullies at home. I say do not forget the brutality of Leninist Chinese Party State. The book suffers from largely ignoring the East China Sea and the relationship with Japan, which I think could be much more important. Asia is far more complicated than Kaplan reveals. If oil is discovered in the China Sea it will only become more complicated. The China Sea is on the way to becoming the most contested body of water in the world. Kaplan said that a Singaporean said they did not wish to be Finlandized or to replace American’s embrace with China’s. The Singaporean went on to say “At the end of the day it is all about military force and naval presence—it is not about passionate and well-meaning talk”. We must remember China is building an enormous Navy and Air Force and the rise of China is now challenging the stability of the area as America’s naval dominance of the Western pacific fades.Kaplan ends the book with a quote of a Vietnamese proverb. “Distant water cannot put out a nearby fire.” I read this as an audio book downloaded from Audible. Michael Prichard did a good job narrating the book. less

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