Robert D. Kaplan | The Tragedy of 21st Century Geopolitics

Trying to make sense of a world where great power rivalry, war and competition for resources are not ghosts of history but present realities? From the Middle East to Ukraine to the South China Sea, world leaders are confronted by complex crises with no easy solution in sight.

US journalist, author and foreign policy advisor Robert D. Kaplan thinks that we must learn to think tragically if we are to avoid or mitigate tragedy. Leaders should be neither optimists nor pessimists but realists, argues Kaplan.

In our sixth Ramsay Lecture for 2024, The Tragedy of 21st Century Geopolitics Kaplan imparts hard-won wisdom, from his time as an influential journalist and respected analyst, of the second Iraq War that toppled Iraqi tyrant Saddam Hussein but unleashed further bloodshed and anarchy. Kaplan was also deeply affected by former US President Bill Clinton hesitating to intervene in the Balkans after reading Kaplan’s 1993 book Balkan Ghosts. His thinking is further influenced by his deep reading of the ancient Greeks and classics.

Listen to this stimulating exploration of how a ‘tragic mindset’ could guide decision making and leadership and how the classics can help inform current conflicts.

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About the Ramsay Centre: The Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation is based in Sydney Australia. It was created with an endowment from the late Paul Ramsay AO, founder of Ramsay Health Care, to promote a deeper understanding of Western civilisation, through scholarships, educational partnerships and events. The Ramsay Lecture series hosts speakers from all walks of life who have important and interesting perspectives relating to the world and our Western heritage.

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