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Imperial Grunts; The American Military on the Ground

Imperial Grunts; The American Military on the Ground

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Imperial Grunts; The American Military on the Ground

by Kaplan, Robert D

  • Used
  • Very Good
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Very Good/Very good
ISBN 10
1400061326
ISBN 13
9781400061327
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About This Item

New York, NY: Random House, 2005. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. xiii, [3], 421, [11] pages. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. Map. Author's Notes. Footnotes. Glossary. Notes. Index. Kaplan explores how American imperialism is pursued and how the global war on terrorism is fought by America's elite military forces. Robert David Kaplan (June 23, 1952) is an American journalist. His writings have been featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The New Republic, The National Interest, Foreign Affairs and The Wall Street Journal, among other publications. In 2009, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates appointed Kaplan to the Defense Policy Board. In 2011, Foreign Policy magazine named Kaplan as one of the world's "top 100 global thinkers." He is a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He is the recipient of the 2001 Greenway-Winship Award for Excellence in international reporting. In 2002, he was awarded the United States State Department Distinguished Public Service Award. Derived from a Kirkus review: Kaplan goes where the boots are. And where they are, he suggests, there stands the American Empire. Kaplan brings home absorbing stories from warriors at the edges of the empire, who are somehow different from soldiers in past wars: The troops who patrol the streets of Djibouti and scout the jungles of Colombia and the Philippines look like surfers, talk like cowboys and have a healthy disdain for the regulations of the Big Army. The Big Army, of course, does things more noisily, though its middle managers-the captains and majors who run the show-seem keen to remake the organization for an ever-unpredictable world. Those who question whether or why the U.S. is an imperial nation will not be comforted by Kaplan's assurances that, democracy at home and a ruthless authoritarianism abroad are not necessarily incompatible. A provocative survey of a changing military charged-it seems ever more apparent-with making the world American, regardless of the world's view of things.

Synopsis

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...

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Details

Bookseller
Ground Zero Books US (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #
80367
Title
Imperial Grunts; The American Military on the Ground
Author
Kaplan, Robert D
Format/Binding
Hardcover
Book Condition
Used - Very Good
Jacket Condition
Very good
Quantity Available
1
Edition
First Edition
ISBN 10
1400061326
ISBN 13
9781400061327
Publisher
Random House
Place of Publication
New York, NY
Date Published
2005
Keywords
Abu Sayyaf, Special Forces, Fallujah, Brennan Byrne, Kevin Christie, Gardez firebase, Special Operations, Operational Detachment Alpha, Taliban, Afghanistan, al-Qaeda, Guerrilla War, Thomas Wilhelm

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