The Future of American Power - Essay Example

Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power. Introduction The book is written by Robert D. Kaplan on his tour around the Indian Ocean comparing the powers of the United States against the powers of China’s growing power. This paper is an analyzed summary of the book. Book summary The author, Kaplan, takes us on a tour specifically around the Indian Ocean. The book discourses on geography, history and strategy. The author strives at providing his American with a map, one centered on “the Greater Indian Ocean” as he calls it. Mostly, maps tend to reveal much about the people who draw them than they reveal about what they are purported to represent. Mercator projections typically hanged on pentagon offices and classroom walls usually place the US in the middle where it is separated from Europe to its East by the big Atlantic Ocean and from Asia by to its West by the Pacific Ocean. Our preference for the perspective reflects a particular national egocentrism and has for a bigger part of the past two centuries made a recommendable deal of a strategic sense (Kaplan, 154). Through a big part of the 19th century, oceanic moats made possible the era of free security as a historian by the name C. Van Woodward called it. United States then projected much of its power primarily towards East Asia and Europe as it stepped on the World stage and grew stronger. In the 20th century, America would wage wars, cold and hot, aiming to protect vital regions against the dominion of hostile forces. Their earlier purposes, notwithstanding, the ancient maps are no longer meaningful having outlived their usefulness. After the cold war had come to an end, with much intensity and speed since 9/11, focus shifted towards South and Southeast Asia, the Middle East and towards the western Pacific waters. Robert D. Kaplan in monsoon argues that fresh ways of viewing the World are needed. This is needed mostly in seeing those parts that are integral elements despite being split by old projections (Kaplan, 165). Kaplan’s goal was providing his fellow countrymen with a similar map centered the Greater Indian Ocean, the region that stretched eastward right from the Horn of Africa going past the Arabian Peninsula, Iranian plateau as well as the Indian subcontinent going all the way to Indonesian archipelago and even beyond. He was glad that the monsoon winds shifted direction regularly at six month intervals, making connecting of the far-flung shores by waters to be readily navigable even when there were primitive sailing vessels. The greater Indian Ocean was initially linked by Muslim merchants, later Portugal dominated it, after which British followed and the United States most recently dominated it (Kaplan,174). The maritime domain has emerged to be the center of gravity of the global system. This was despite having become something of a strategic backwater at the time of the cold war. Huge tankers that carry a great fraction of the World’s energy pass through it. At the western end of it, that is, from the horn of Africa to the Persian Gulf monarchies, to Iran, Pakistan and along the Arabian Sea shores there lies the major sources of Islamist extremism. Most importantly, it happens to be in the Indian Ocean where the interests and influence of countries like India, China and the US have begun to overlap as well as intersect. It is at this point that Kaplan says “global power dynamics will be revealed”. That is for the 21st century (Kaplan, 182). Monsoon, being Kaplan’s 13th book similar to other books contains a special blend of a first-person brief historical sketches, travel writing, as well as widely ranged strategic analysis. Kaplan proceeds clockwise from Oman that is located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, where he comes ashore at several points, especially along the Pakistan coasts, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar that was initially called Burma as well as Indonesia. Kaplan later completes his off the East African shores in Zanzibar. Along his way, Kaplan found varying and different mixtures of economic dynamism, ethnic tension, political turmoil, ecological strain and cultural diversity. He was optimistic about places that tend to combine decentralized administrative structures with democratic institutions and the cultures of tolerance such as India and Indonesia (Kaplan, 291). In countries such as Myanmar and Pakistan, their authoritarian regimes impose orders on the diverse populations and will therefore remain being dangerously prone to instability, radicalization, the possibility of internal collapse and external meddling. He then finds out that the likes of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh could go either of the ways. At his best, Kaplan describes “new Great Game’ which then starts to unfold across the Indian Ocean. Correctively, he notes that China happens to be primarily responsible for setting the game in motion (Kaplan, 294). Right from the beginning of the century, the country has had an explosive economic growth that propels it outwards particularly searching for materials, markets and most energy. In thirst for oil, the Chinese tankers ply waters all the way from the western Pacific, through the Strait of Malacca that is off Indonesia and across the Indian Ocean towards the Persian Gulf (Kaplan, 197). The increasing engagement of China in the global energy markets does not pose any threat mainly due to the world being solely governed by the economic laws of supply and demand. Other than smiles and the professions of goodwill, the leaders in China tend to believe that the US feels threatened by China’s economic rise ultimately seeking to thwart it. Considering that the United States Navy dominates oceans in the world depends on the seaborne energy imports that is growing would represent potential deadly vulnerability in the Chinese eyes. Beijing has, however, responded where it has begun by building its naval power. Secondly, it has sought alternative supply routes less susceptible to other hostile powers such as the United States. There are also overland pipelines to energy sources in the Central Asia as well as ambitious engineering projects, including ports to shorten the route to Chinese consumers from the Persian Gulf (Kaplan, 300). As Kaplain explains, China has become more visible and active in an area regarded by India as its backyard in pursuit of energy. The Indian planners have thus started broadening their strategic horizons. New Delhi is also seeking to compete with Beijing to counter initiatives around the Bengal Bay while strengthening ties with Indonesia and Vietnam in the South China Sea. India has also its relationship with the United States. Kaplan sees the possibility of United States dominance of the great Indian Ocean by the navy being handed over to an American-Indian-condominium of sorts. In pursuit of the mutual interest of development and peaceful trade, the three countries may collaborate and start opposing piracy, preserving freedom of navigation as well as responding to natural disasters (Kaplan, 320). In conclusion, it seems clearly that competitive impulses being accurately assessed by Kaplan will grow stronger. In this case, India and the United States will probably be forced to work harder and closer in the coming years to be able to balance the explosively growing power of China. Work Cited Kaplan, Robert D. Monsoon: the Indian Ocean and the future of American power. Random House Incorporated, 2011. Read More