March 11, 2003

THE REALIST'S REALIST:

Listen to Correspondent for 'The Atlantic Monthly,' Robert Kaplan (Fresh Air, March 11, 2003, NPR)
His story in the April edition of the magazine is "A Tale of Two Colonies." Kaplan traveled to Yemen and Eritrea to investigate how the war on terrorism is forcing the United States to be involved with each. Yemen is believed to have the largest al Qaeda presence outside of the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. Kaplan is best known for his book Balkan Ghosts, which former President Clinton turned to before the U.S. involvement in the Bosnian crisis. Kaplan's 1990 book Soldiers of God: With Islamic Warriors in Afghanistan and Pakistan, has just been republished, updating the story.

Fascinating interview with highlights too numerous to mention them all. But here are two: (1) Mr. Kaplan calls for a liberalizing dictatorship in post-Saddam Iraq--what we'd call a Franco or Pinochet regime; (2) he leaves little doubt that--as the Administration's been saying and the Left and libertarians have been objecting to--Columbia's narcoterrorists are developing a relationship with al Qaeda.

MORE:
A Post-Saddam Scenario: Iraq could become America's primary staging ground in the Middle East. And the greatest beneficial effect could come next door, in Iran (Robert D. Kaplan, November 2002, Atlantic Monthly)

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 11, 2003 9:48 PM
Comments

Give Iraq to Turkey. You want a stable democracy and a firm ally.

Posted by: Thomas J. Jackson at March 12, 2003 12:00 AM

I don't think Franco qualifies as a liberal
dictator.

Posted by: Bill Woods at March 12, 2003 3:24 AM

Kaplan's a smart, well-travelled guy but a little too much in love with dictators and "pagan values" for my liking.



The man distrusts democracy.

Posted by: M Ali Choudhury at March 12, 2003 4:23 AM

Mr. Woods:



He preserved and strengthened the institutions that made the eventual transition to stable democracy possible.

Posted by: oj at March 12, 2003 10:22 AM

Ali:



Why shouldn't democracy be distrusted? Most nations don't have the mediating structures--legal system, churches, family, etc.--that make it possible to begin one and the ones that have been around awhile--like those in Europe--have demolished those institutions so that they're drifting into bureaucratic authoritarianism.

Posted by: oj at March 12, 2003 10:25 AM

From what I've read of Kaplan he goes beyond healthy scepticism to question the value of the institution itself.



And if Franco did such a good job with strengthening Spanish innstitutions how come there were repeated attempted coups by the army following his death?



King Juan Carlos deserves a lot more credit for the transition to a democracy than Franco does who probably wanted dictatorship to continue forever.

Posted by: M Ali Choudhury at March 12, 2003 11:35 AM

Given Europe, why shouldn't we question the institution itself? Democracy does not appear to work in the long run.

Posted by: oj at March 12, 2003 1:56 PM
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