Kagan Robert Kagan Has Been Described as

Kagan Robert Kagan has been described as a "neoconservative historian,"[footnoteRef:1] and yet the commentator's views are more complex than can be squeezed into one phrase. Kagan does exhibit some of the hallmarks of neoconservative ideology, including the continued belief in American exceptionalism, and a willingness to use terms like "new world order."[footnoteRef:2] Kagan vehemently opposes the belief that the American hegemon is declining in status and power, admitting only that the United States is rethinking its role in foreign policy and international affairs.

Kagan is a foreign policy advisor who Barack Obama has reportedly heralded and cited in presidential speeches.[footnoteRef:3] One reviewer of books in The New York Times described the author's work as being "wonderfully argued."[footnoteRef:4] Another claims that glaring logical fallacies, "fuzzy generalizations, debatable assertions and self-important declarations of the obvious," generally discredit the international relations maestro.[footnoteRef:5] Therefore, Robert Kagan emerges as a highly controversial commentator who, at the very least, has a grasp on the American psyche, fears and all. [1: Michiko Kakutani.

"Historian Who Influences Both Obama and Romney: 'The World America Made,' by Robert Kagan." The New York Times. 13 Feb 2012, p. 1. Retrieved online: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/14/books/the-world-america-made-by-robert-kagan.html?_r=0] [2: Robert Kagan. "A Changing World Order." The Washington Post. 15 November, 2013, p. 1. Retrieved online: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-changing-world-order/2013/11/15/4ce39d1a-489a-11e3-b6f8-3782ff6cb769_story.html] [3: Michiko Kakutani. "Historian Who Influences Both Obama and Romney: 'The World America Made,' by Robert Kagan." The New York Times, p. 1.] [4: David E. Sanger.

"Democracy, Limited." The New York Times. 18 May, 2008, p.1. Retrieved online: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/books/review/Sanger-t.html?pagewanted=all] [5: Michiko Kakutani. "Historian Who Influences Both Obama and Romney: 'The World America Made,' by Robert Kagan." The New York Times, p.1.] II. Author Background Robert Kagan was born in Athens, NY in 1958. He worked as a political advisor to Congressman Jack Kemp, before joining the Reagan administration.

After writing speeches for Secretary of State George Schultz, Kagan became head of the Office of Public Diplomacy, and the Deputy for Policy in the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs. Kagan also founded the Project for the New American Century, and has authored several books on foreign policy and international relations. III. Concepts of International Relations Kagan's earliest work describes the Reagan administration's interventionist foreign policies, as in A Twilight Struggle: American Power and Nicaragua, 1977-1990.

In this tome, Kagan describes the new world order that Reagan helped to create via the newfound power it wielded after the demise of the Soviet Union. Kagan does not congratulate the Reagan administration, so much as he accepts its decisions as a realist. Indeed, Kagan does emerge as a solid realist.

In The Return of History and the End of Dreams, Kagan admits that the world has not magically changed since the Cold War ended, and that the United States plays a strategic role in determining the character of the new world order. "History has returned," claims Kagan, a direct response to Fukuyama's assertion that the "end of history" has arrived.[footnoteRef:6] Kagan continues, "the democracies must come together to shape it, or others will shape it for them," referring in part to global trans-national terrorist organizations.[footnoteRef:7] [6: Robert Kagan.

The Return of History and the End of Dreams. New York: Random House, 2008, p. 2.] [7: Robert Kagan. The Return of History and the End of Dreams, p. 2.] In Of Paradise and Power, Kagan describes the emerging differences between Americans and Europeans as becoming increasingly important to characterizing the new world order. Europeans have retreated into a self-contained economic and political unit, claims Kagan.

Kagan somewhat cynically describes the European mentality as being a "post-historical paradise of peace and relative prosperity," characterized by "rules and transnational negotiation and cooperation."[footnoteRef:8] Kagan is equally as critical of America's approach to strategic global leadership.

The United States refuses to see the world in anything but black-or-white terms, pursues a warlike mentality, and prefers unilaterialism while "exercising power in an anarchic Hobbesian world where international laws and rules and unreliable," requiring the use of hegemonic force.[footnoteRef:9] While Barack Obama has pursued a different strategy than his predecessor, the core principles of American foreign policy practice remain the same. [8: Robert Kagan. Of Paradise and Power. New York: First Vintage, 2004, p. 1] [9: Robert Kagan. Of Paradise and Power. New York: First Vintage, 2004, p.

1] Application to United States Foreign Policy Kagan traces the history of American power and foreign policy in Dangerous Nation. With a firm foundation in the roots of American ideology, Kagan's arguments become cogent. The seemingly ambiguous and possibly indecisive strategies Obama pursues are, as Kagan described them, reflective of the changing world order and America's response to it. However, Kagan continues to frame change with America as the instigator and primary actor. America is not the passive recipient of international balance of power shifting.

Rather, the contradictory "desire for contraction and retrenchment" that Obama exhibits is simply the current stage in the evolution of American foreign policy.[footnoteRef:10] There are more questions than answers at this stage, but that does not signal American weakness. Kagan believes that a magical global consortium with happy people holding hands is simply impossible, and that the United States remains aware of that fact but Europe does not. [10: Robert Kagan. "A Changing World Order." The Washington Post. 15 November, 2013, p.1.

] Conclusion The cynicism with which Kagan frames his postmodern realpolitik seems irksome to some, but a salve for others that seek more intelligent insight into how America can take responsibility for the world it has created, and own its own power. Kagan sees the current world order as an.