The Atlantic Monthly, June 2000

The Return of Ancient Times, by Robert D. Kaplan

Why the warrior politics of the twenty-first century will demand a pagan ethos

1. What is a pagan ethos?
2. Why has the “right” come to dominate the political agenda of many nations?
3. What is the irony of “good men doing bad”? What is Machiavellian philosophy in relation to leadership?
4. Is Machiavellian “By any means necessary” moral? Where are the boundaries of this philosophy? Who determines these boundaries?
5. Compare and Contrast the philosophy of Machiavelli to Thucydides Melian Dialogue.
6. In Johann Goethe’s Faust, the protagonist Dr. Faust, trades his soul to gain great power. He attempts to do good, but in the end he commits evil by “doing the wrong things for the right reasons”. Does power corrupt or in an awkward paradox is evil necessary to do good”?
7. In relation to American foreign policy what is “anxious foresight” according to Kaplan?
8. How can individuality be suppressed in the analysis of “high politics”?
9. What is the role of history in international relations? What is not the role of the past?
10. What is meant by the author saying “triage, rather than wish fulfillment will define American foreign policy”?
11. What are the limits of idealism?
12. Who does Kaplan argue holds the answers/solutions to the 21^st century?
13. What is the difference between the highest good and the common good?
14. Why does Kennan argue for ruthlessness? To what current events can we relate the comments of today’s elites?
15. What does Kaplan argue guides Western political philosophy? Do you agree?