”’…in Georgia, a civil war was necessary because of the kind of people we are. The real cause of the war is our medievalness: Our knights of the round table simply quarreled and fought each other.’ These knights were Gamsakhurdia; his defense minister, Tengiz Kitovani, a vulgar thug; and the commander of the Mkhedrioni paramilitaries, Dzhaba Ioseliani, a dapper professor and convicted bank robber, who promised to blow out the brains of anyone who opposed him.”
Thanks to my roomate, I’ve recently discovered and fallen in love with Robert Kaplan’s books. I had already read a lot of his articles, because I once had a subscription to The Atlantic Monthly. Beyond being a great writer, Kaplan has a perspicacity and knowledge of history and geopolitics that surpass most of what I’ve read in the 7 years I spent studying politics and international relations. I’m almost done Eastward to Tartary: Travels in the Balkans, the Middle East, and the Caucasus.
The Balkans and the Caucasus are, for the most part, a complete mystery to me…and I helped write a book on the causes and consequences of the war in Kosovo and it’s subsequent independence. It’s a part of the world where regional loyalties and ethnic power struggles render national governments impotent and largely irrelevant.
Why is Kaplan so impressive? Because he is able to demystify the politics of one of the most historically complex regions of the world. And he makes it exciting.
Must read.
