The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power - Book Report/Review Example

Book Review: The Indian Ocean monsoon winds provided the reliable energy sources from the immemorial time. Thewinds moved sailing crafts of different sizes and forms across long distances. Various skills that are seen in the sailing in the modern day can be viewed back to the initial Indian Ocean sailors. The ocean seas do not keep any records of events marks that occurred on their surfaces. The marks of the places that the ships departed and arrived at are shown by the cargos and people the ships carried. The trade opportunities across the continents between communities and empires encouraged the exploration and travelling in the time millennia. The potential rewards from the trade together with the involved sheer adventure in embarking on these journeys motivated persons of all colors, races, creeds and nationalities to travel at that time. Some routes and ports were made redundant by the steam engine advent. The will to control and command littoral communities and maritime passageways in the Indian Ocean by both local and far nations has not diminished. We appreciate how these trends have affected North America or Atlantic, maritime world at 20th century and their impact on maritime relationships globally in the 21st century. All these will be gained by the reader from book. This book provides a response for The Atlantic, claims that the ocean of India will change into centre of power in world politics and the level for the new huge game that will reveal the global power dynamics. The geopolitical world map heart will shifts from Atlantic Ocean eastwards. The author notes that about 40% of the seaborne crude oil of the world crosses the Strait of Hormuz in the Indian Ocean western part (Kaplan, 22). Furthermore, half of the merchant fleet of the world is trapped at the Strait of Malacca, making it become the most important trade route globally. According to the argument Kaplan (33) stressed on adapting our own traditional perspectives shown in our map design that usually places Europe or Western hemisphere at the center. This book attracts the reader into his brilliant travel account through discrete informal style mixing personal impression with policy analysis and anecdotes. However, the book is hardly ever superficial. It begins with the analysis of Oman proceeding to Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, India Indonesia, Myanmar and finishing with Zanzibar. The book is easy-to-read providing author’s experiences at the time of travelling in a Littoral states eclectic sample on the borders of Indian Ocean. Kaplan (13) forms a didactic account of social, historical, religious, political and ethnic phenomena that befallen the nations he visited in the 15th century and the modern day. He describes his personal experience during travelling while making research of his book during the 21st century’s first decade. He conveys a socio-political, historical bird’s eye view of the global part between border of Pacific Ocean, Indonesia Archipelago and bordering of the Atlantic Ocean, Cape of Good Hope. Hanging down in the center is the sub-continent of India, like a bunch of grape. It provides a boundary of the Northern equatorial Bengal Bay and Sea of Arab, on its east coast and west coast respectively. Anyone who is not familiar with the regions is in the direction of discovery by reading this book. The author of this book is excellent at linking realities with geopolitical implications on the ground. A good example is visit to Gwadar port, located in South of Pakistan at a strategic point, with the strength of becoming another Dubai yet controlled strongly by Pakistan political stability. He achieved to echo mind-boggling diversity of India, ranging from interviews he carried out Delhi and Kolkata from Gujarat. He identified huge hurdles that will be need by India to overcome like sectarian violence. This book by Kaplan observes rightfully the position of India, standing at commanding Indian Ocean center dramatically, giving it a critical edge in the antagonism against China. Due to democratic credentials, Kaplan (27) predicts a wonderful future for Indonesia. The most prominent are the various faces of Islam and their different evolvement between Asian approach secular business and fanatic Arabic versions. Islam origin is seen a Rotary Club divine version emphasizing on better trading practices and traders ethnics for creating such behaviors. The main reason for the book is like it’s suppose to an American establishment prologue for recognition of its diminishing task globally as a cold war maritime warrior of the world providing protection to the American way. The deliberate naval question possessed I n the book is: America’s place will be taken by whom between China and India? Neither of the two countries gained interest in global possessions in the way done by the successive colonial masters in the past to their own countries. The most critical thin to the two nations is possessing in relationships place that will ensure energy is sustainably supplied. The supply is require in their all manifestations that each state require to develop fully what they posses currently and make certain their relevant desire for dominance globally. The author’s narrative give the picture of the two countries proceeding to severe lengths to provide protection to sea routes that supply their hunger for supply of energy that is sustainable all over the region. The author provides a scrupulous account of something he describes as vertical approach of China, giving the primary experience in seeing the development of Gwadar ports on the shores of Pakistan’s Arabia and sea port of Hambnatonota, near southern extremity of Sri Lanka. This seaport experience per year about thirty thousand vessels providing transport to fuel and raw materials to East Asia from the Middle East. Kaplan (44) does a great job in describing the development of India horizontal relationships among oil interests of the Middle East with its historical ties through the East African coast in its theater of west. India occupied itself cementing its past colonialists alliances with neighbors like Burma, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Thailand in its theater to the east, in the process of defining its Strait of Malacca ownership. The author explores the way Indian nationalism is a barrier to its desire for dominance globally as a tested and true secular democracy, an unusual region phenomenon. The author of this book manages to contrast how the Sri Lanka Buddhism militarily distinct the country from the perceived onslaught of influences of Hindu. He states this as coming from south of indie and he gives a geopolitically justification of the ethnic relationships myriad among the individuals who comprise Burma. The investments of China in facilities of ports ensuring its gateways within the Indian Ocean get complemented by large pipeline investments. The pipelines were providing connection to its land locked interior with vital facilities of ports in Arabian Sea, Pakistan, and the Bengal Sea and Burma. Western societies are reluctant to carry out businesses with countries that do not adhere to their human rights principles, China, and somehow few of such limitations affected India. Dutch, Spanish, French, British and America all left their signs on the Indian Ocean littoral countries over the centuries, but the initial discovery and wealth exploitation was done by the Portuguese. Goa, Malacca, Hormuz and Colombo were occupied by the Portuguese in 1510, 1511, 1515 and 1518 respectively. They reached Java twenty three years on rounding the Good Hope Cape, with some forty ports of Portuguese and outposts found in Greater Indian Ocean. The book provides a description of efforts of Portuguese in the ocean of India as an English Crusade comparing these efforts against countries for the Muslims of Mediterranean’s Levant with four great empires taken by the Portuguese. These empires were Safavid Iran, Ottoman Turkey, Ming China and Mughal India, of which three of them were Muslim owned. Kaplan (33) acknowledges their faith to be the one that gave the Portuguese power to undertake inhumane conditions in their carracks’ bowels. These bowels, while out of date by the standards of European, were very victorious transportation vessels for military in a no equal region. The prophet of the Portuguese was the Virgin Mary. In spite of their maritime fortitude, coming from the society were medieval Europeans that never had the advantages of the secular enlightenment of renaissance period like other European parts. They had the belief of providing defense to their religions by slaughtering non believers, which most of them were Muslims promising them huge glory in the coming world. This reader could not help but impressed that history rewinds itself on considering the frequent references of the author to the 9/11 impact in various geopolitical imbroglios explanations of the region. In his final section, the author forms the argument same to Kissinger in his current book that Post-Western world emergence is predictable, adding up that this situation will be first visible at the Indian Ocean. The role of balancer between the most powerful actors’ of the regions should be assumed by the United States. Kaplan recognizes the continuation of US dominance for sometime at the same time. For example, when he pointed out that there is still the possession of more than half aircraft carriers by the United States. Works Cited: Kaplan, Robert D. Monsoon: the Indian Ocean and the future of American power. Random House Incorporated, 2011. Read More