In "Eastward to Tartary," Robert Kaplan, author of the classic "Balkan Ghosts" and several other excellent books, doesn't sugarcoat things, that's for sure, as he explores the "New Near East" (the corpses of two major empires -- the Ottoman and the Soviet) and writes back to inform us how the rotting is going. Personally, I think we should all be thankful to Kaplan for traveling to some of these hellholes and reporting back to us so, if for nothing else, so WE don't have to go there ourselves (just kidding)! We are also lucky that Kaplan, with his keen eye, tenacity, persistence, courage, and fine journalistic skills, is there to give us the uncomfortable truths that most of us would prefer to ignore or gloss over. As Kaplan modestly puts it, his goal is to "discover the obvious" - obvious, though, only if you are willing (and skillful enough) to really look for it, and most Western journalists aren't willing or able. Luckily for us, Kaplan is both!
"Eastward to Tartary" is bracing, as have been all of Kaplan's books, and not for the weak of stomach! Whether or not you like what he has to say, you have to admit that Kaplan has vast knowledge and wisdom and cuts right to the chase - no bull. Reading Kaplan, I kept thinking: this guy is the anti-Friedman! No cloying cuteness, no wonders of globalization for Kaplan, and no rhapsodizing over the wonders of shopping malls and McDonalds either. Thank goodness! Instead, Kaplan writes clearly, brutally honestly, without sentimentality, glibness, or cuteness. Kaplan is NOT an optimist, and I mean this as a compliment. Instead, Kaplan is a clear-eyed realist, and, as Michael Ignatieff calls him, a "travel writer from hell" (that's a compliment, too, by the way!) Many Americans, steeped in naďve, mushy, rose-colored, and even dangerous optimism, would probably call him a pessimist by way of dismissing him because they don't WANT to believe what he has to say. But just because Kaplan is a disturbing messenger, that doesn't mean that we should shoot him (metaphorically speaking, of course)! As Kaplan himself puts it, "a viewpoint is not necessarily inaccurate because it happens to be morally risky or pessimistic, especially if it helps explain phenomena that are otherwise unexplainable."
Kaplan's stress on the salience of history is a jarring contrast with mainstream American thought, which tends strongly towards the "history is bunk" school. Kaplan also disillusions us of the mushy notion that if only everyone could be globalized, then everyone would be peaceful liberal democrats and we'd be at the "end of history". NOT!
Kaplan is successful in part because of HOW he travels - slowly, by land or sea, mainly. As he puts it, "the essence of travel was to slow the passage of time. One could fly...but "flying from place to place encourages abstractions, whereas land travel brings one face-to-face with basic, sometimes unpleasant truths. I preferred to travel by second-class car and stay in cheap hotels...[because] it allowed me to go on learning."
So what does Kaplan learn? That "national character" matters. That "absurd personality cults" are alive and well in many of these places. That "the idea that the Internet and other technologies annihilates distances is a half-truth." That communism/ authoritarianism are not NECESSARILY all bad (at least they provided pensions, schooling, and social peace), and that liberal democracy/capitalism/free markets are not NECESSARILY all good or an end in and of themselves (especially if it's the local thugs and Mafiosi who benefit). That nothing is "determined in advance," but that leadership, history and geography (the "olive trees" in Friedman's formulation) DO matter. That the West probably could "never muster" the "sheer appetite for power" necessary to remake this part of the world. That "morality is a funny thing," and that sometimes the former "idealistic dissident" can end up destroying his country, while the ex-communist hack or secret policeman can end up saving it. That irredentism (Azeri, Turkmen, etc.) is alive and well at the start of the 21st century. That it may be only "the impermanence of bad governments" that gives one any hope at all for many of these places. That, in many of the places that he visits, Western influence extends for only a few blocks in the capital city, while the countryside is ruled by gangs and thugs, with only the faintest sign of the West. That there are plenty of rootless, unemployed, disoriented young men out there just ripe for the picking of terrorist groups, religious fanatics, mafias, and nationalistic armies. And that ecological and cultural devastation are long-lasting consequences of the collapse the Soviet Union.
So what does Kaplan recommend that we DO about this screwed-up part of the world? It's hard to tell...maybe he doesn't really know. Or, maybe, Kaplan is a specialist - he calls `em like he sees `em, but leaves it to other specialists to figure out what to do with `em! Anyway, MY recommendation is that you read this book, if you want to understand the world we live in today, and, most likely, it's future...
