“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.
