The Return of History and the End of Dreams by Robert Kagan

“When individuals have the power not just to dream, but to realize their dreams, they will demand a greater say.” – Bill Clinton

The Return of History and the End of Dreams by Robert Kagan is a long ‘essay’ on the study of geopolitics/economy of the ‘great powers’ after the Cold War. Kagan explores the main foreign policies and aims of the United States, Russia, China, Europe, Japan, India and Iran. According to Kagan, “Autocracy is making a comeback.” And, as the world goes back to ‘normal’ the hopes of the modern democratic world that, “wanted to believe that the end of the Cold War did not just end one strategic and ideological conflict but all strategic and ideological conflict” are diminished.

Surprisingly, I quite enjoyed this book. I say surprisingly because I have never read any book of this style. I had a sort of prejudice in my head before reading that I would find this all very dry and difficult to understand, this prejudice all went away when I started reading, and I found I am really interested in the field of geopolitics.

I’m no expert in this field, obviously, and so I cannot debate on the quality of Kagan’s arguments or even if I agree with his point of view. What I do want to say in this review is that I think anyone who is starting to have an interest in geopolitics or would like to gain a basic understanding of where the powerful countries stand in relation to international relations, trading, foreign policies and government style, should read this book. It’s very short and easy to follow. I think it’s a very good introduction for beginners in this topic. Kagan manages to summarise the ideas of many other politicians, journalists and authors in order to present his view on the issue. It’s also a good basis to use for research.  I found that while I was reading, it was useful to have a computer next to me so I could research all the events, politicians, policies and any other interesting facts he mentioned. By doing so, I managed to gain a deeper understanding of Kagan’s words and to also open my view on the issue by extending my knowledge further than what I was reading in the book.

This book is great for beginners in the field of geopolitics after the Cold War and I’m guessing it is also useful as a summary or point of debate for those who already have a good knowledge of the ‘battle’ between liberalism and autocracy. It is also important to keep in mind that this book was written in 2008 and that it does not have the most recent of news, and should be followed up by more research and reading.