Bibliograph

The loom of time, between empire and anarchy from the Mediterranean to China, Robert D. Kaplan

Type

Label

The loom of time, between empire and anarchy from the Mediterranean to China, Robert D. Kaplan

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references and index

Illustrations

illustrations

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

The loom of time

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

Responsibility statement

Robert D. Kaplan

Sub title

between empire and anarchy from the Mediterranean to China

Summary

"The Greater Middle East, the vast region between the Mediterranean and China encompassing much of the Arab world, parts of northern Africa, and Asia, existed for millennia as the crossroads of empire: Macedonian, Mongol, Ottoman, Russian, British. But with the dissolution of empires in the twentieth century, postcolonial states have struggled to maintain stability in the face of power struggles between factions, leadership vaccuums, and the fact of arbitrary borders drawn by exiting imperial rulers with little regard for geography or political groups on the ground. In the Loom of Time, Robert Kaplan explores this broad, fraught space to reveal deeper truths about the impacts of history on the present and how the requirements of stability over anarchy are often in conflict with the ideals of democratic governance. In The Loom of Time, Kaplan makes an excellent case for realism the world over, but especially for it as an approach to the Greater Middle East. Just as Western attempts as democracy promotion across the Middle East have failed, a new form of economic imperialism is emerging today as China's ambitions fall squarely within the region as the key link between Europe and East Asia. As in the past, the Greater Middle East will be a register of future great power struggles across the globe. And like in the past, thousands of years of imperial rule will continue to cast a long shadow on politics as it is practiced today"--, Provided by publisher

Table Of Contents

Prologue : China in the afterlife of empire -- Time and terrain -- Aegean -- Constantinople -- Lower Nile -- Upper Nile -- Arabia Deserta -- Fertile crescent : part I -- Fertile crescent : part II -- Fertile crescent : part III -- Safavid Iran -- Way of the Pathans -- Epilogue : a failure of imagination

Classification