Imperial Grunts: The American Military on the Ground | Robert D. Kaplan

Imperial Grunts: The American Military on the Ground | Robert D. Kaplan | The U.S. Secretly Owns the World, Kaplan Undeniably Owns the Telling of the Story

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Imperial Grunts: T...

	Imperial Grunts: The American Military on the Ground Robert D. Kaplan Random House, 2005 - 448 pages average customer review:based on 84 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

In this landmark book, Robert D. Kaplan, veteran correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly and author of Balkan Ghosts, shows how American imperialism and the Global War on Terrorism are implemented on the ground, mission by mission, in the most exotic landscapes around the world.

Given unprecedented access, Kaplan takes us from the jungles of the southern Philippines to the glacial dust bowls of Mongolia, from the forts of Afghanistan to the forests of South America?not to mention Iraq?to show us Army Special Forces, Marines, and other uniformed Americans carrying out the many facets of U.S. foreign policy: negotiating with tribal factions, storming terrorist redoubts, performing humanitarian missions and training foreign soldiers.

In Imperial Grunts, Kaplan provides an unforgettable insider?s account not only of our current involvement in world affairs, but also of where America, including the culture of its officers and enlisted men, is headed. This is the rare book that has the potential to change the way readers view the men and women of the military, war, and the global reach of American imperialism today.

As Kaplan writes, the only way to understand America?s military is ?on foot, or in a Humvee, with the troops themselves, for even as elites in New York and Washington debated imperialism in grand, historical terms, individual marines, soldiers, airmen, and sailors?all the cultural repositories of America?s unique experience with freedom?were interpreting policy on their own, on the ground, in dozens upon dozens of countries every week, oblivious to such faraway discussions. . . . It was their stories I wanted to tell: from the ground up, at the point of contact.?

Never before has America?s overarching military strategy been parsed so incisively and evocatively. Kaplan introduces us to lone American servicemen whose presence in obscure countries is largely unknown, and concludes with a heart-stopping portrait of marines in the first battle in Fallujah. Extraordinary in its scope, beautifully written, Imperial Grunts, the first of two volumes, combines first-rate reporting with the sensitivity and insights of an acclaimed writer steeped in history, literature, and philosophy, to deliver a masterly account of America?s global role in the twenty-first century.

? Imperial Grunts paints a vivid picture of how defense policy is implemented at the grassroots level.

? Kaplan travels throughout the world where U.S. forces are located. This is not just a book about Iraq or Afghanistan.

? Rather than debate imperialism, Kaplan relies on a keen understanding of history, philosophy, and in-the-field reporting to show how it actually works on the ground.

? Imperial Grunts escapes Washington and shows us what it?s like to live with the grunts day to day.

Praise for Imperial Grunts

?One of the most important books of the last several years. Robert Kaplan uses his prodigious energy and matchless reporting skills to takes us on to the front lines with the new warrior-diplomats who use weapons, imagination, and personal passion to protect and advance the interests of the United States. This is a generation every American should come to know.?
?Tom Brokaw

?Robert Kaplan has brilliantly captured the story of today?s U.S. military operating in far-flung places on strange missions. Imperial Grunts is the most insightful and superbly written account of soldiering in the New World Disorder to date. It is a must read for all Americans.?
?General Anthony C. Zinni, United States Marine Corps (Ret.)

?Kaplan infuses us with a sense of hope about the future. Through astonishing observations, truths, and stories, Imperial Grunts introduces a brand-new way of thinking about the enduring virtue of the American spirit.?
?George Crile, author of Charlie Wilson?s War

?No recent book so well or so vividly portrays the challenges of the modern United States military. With an impressive grasp of the complexities of military missions worldwide, Robert Kaplan exposes the reader to the world of the modern soldier, sailor, airman, and Marine. A must read for both civilian and military leaders.?
?General Barry R. McCaffrey, United States Army (Ret.), Bradley Distinguished Professor of International Security Studies, United States Military Academy

?Imperial Grunts is vintage Robert Kaplan, combining a deep appreciation of history and wonderfully vivid writing with an infectious wanderlust.?
?Max Boot, Senior Fellow, National Security Studies, the Council on Foreign Relations, author of The Savage Wars of Peace

?Splendid! This is the finest work in print about today?s American fighting men and the challenges they face around the globe. Kaplan?s courage in researching this book under combat conditions is complemented by his integrity and great literary skill. Imperial Grunts simply could not be better.?
?Ralph Peters, author of Beyond Baghdad

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370 pages of thrill

Hectic read, absorbing, masterfully told. This is one writer i am going to follow from now on. Whatever you think you are not going to go bored reading his stories. I was happily surprised to notice his lack of arrogance -as one would expect to find from a reporter among this class of American heroes. The stars are the real soldiers, the military. Kaplan is there alright, but in the background.

I loved the chapters on Colombia and the Philippines. But everything was very vivid and exciting. You get to have a global sightseeing tour of American forces over the planet. You feel the humidity, you see the landscapes they see, taste the same food and live the same experiences, battlefield included.

The last chapter on Irak, Fallujah specifically was the best ending possible for this book. One can't help to identify oneself with the writer when, after the battle was ceasefired by political decision... "in Dubai. In the lobby, on the way to my room, I noticed a newstand. The front pages were all about Fallujah. I felt like a person at the center of a scandal that everybody was reading about, in which even the most accurate, balanced accounts were unconnected to what I had actually experienced and the marines I had experienced it all with. I felt deeply alienated. After I ate and showered and scrubbed my backpack, I didn't want to talk to anyone. All I wanted to do was write."

The author has a clear idea -and so depicts it- of American society:

"The soldiers and marines I encountered during months of travel with the military -whose parents and grandparents had fought in Vietnam- thought of that war as every bit as sanctified as the nation's others. As for those who saw Vietnam differently, they were generally from the more prosperous classes of Amreican society, classes which even back then were in the process of forging a global, cosmopolitan elite."

Want to know what the real world out there is like? Read this.

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The U.S. Secretly Owns the World, Kaplan Undeniably Owns the Telling of the Story

A wonderfully thorough and accurate account of far-reaching American imperialism, maintained by obscure small wars and nation-building and a near-religious quest for "hearts and minds," the globe over. Kaplan successfully reveals the full-circle the U.S. has drawn from conflicts of centuries ago to the present-day struggles (some well-known, others of a nature more stealth) from Columbia to Afghanistan and Iraq. Unburdened by left-wing bias, untainted by hawkish neo-conservative idealism, it is a work staggering in scope and satisfying in its delivery. Overall, it casts America in its proper role as peacekeeper of the world and highlights (as it alludes to) the ways our military leaders must change and adapt so the U.S. can continue filling that role. In doing so, Kaplan also portrays the utter humanity of the troops on the ground doing the hard work, even as he trumpets their heroism and acknowledges the intangibles that grace their collective drive to serve. As a military man, it is gratifying that Kaplan observes firsthand and clearly articulates so much about American military might; its collective mindset; and its service members that is otherwise overlooked; misunderstood; or altogether unexpressed, or at least normally loses more than a small measure of accuracy. The "yup-that's-how-it-is; can't- believe-I-never-thought-of-it-that-way" factor is all over this book.

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A true understanding of security in the modern age

In the current age of transnational threats and global insurgency, security for both the US as a nation and for the interstate system as a whole will only be found by bolstering those states that are weak and are unable to control their own borders are govern the entirety of their own territory. This is done through close military engagement on the ground with the armed forces of friendly states, what the US military refers to as "Building Partner Capacity."

Kaplan's book takes readers to the front lines of these efforts, both in active war zones and in countries around the world where the fight against the forces of chaos and terrorism takes a much more subtle form. It provides an indispensable view into how security is gained and maintained in the modern age.

The controversy arises because Kaplan's writing style leaves him open to accusations of jingoism and being an apologist for American imperialism. However, such a conclusion fails to fully understand Kaplan's point: that as the only superpower left, the US has to be proactive in its efforts to secure the world. But these efforts are conducted by working with, not against, other states. These sorts of efforts are central to pursuing security WITHOUT having to invade other countries and depose regimes on a regular basis, and are discusses without controversy in numerous academic works on the subject. To dismiss Kaplan as a war monger and neo-imperialist is to misunderstand his point.

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IMPERIAL GRUNTS

The item arrived on time in good condition and was in excellent condition. I could not ask more from the seller.

Are we really an empire ?

A central thesis of Kaplan's book is that the U.S. is now an empire with global reach. I just don't agree with his premise. If we are an empire, we're pretty bad at it. What is true is that the U.S. military has succumbed to "mission creep" with little or no public debate. Why are we training troops in places like Chad or Algeria ? Kaplan is fulsome in his praise of the ground-level troopers, and they deserve it for their dedication and resourcefulness. But it must be admitted that these qualities are often put to use in the service of missions of dubious strategic value.

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