Author and Journalist Robert Kaplan to Deliver Lecture on “Empire and Anarchy” Kaplan’s talk “Between Empire and Anarchy from the Mediterranean to China” will be held Nov. 8.

By Emily Innes
November 2, 2023

Globally acclaimed author and journalist Robert Kaplan will deliver a lecture titled “Between Empire and Anarchy from the Mediterranean to China” at Washington and Lee University on Wednesday, Nov. 8 at 5:30 p.m. in the University Chapel, with seating beginning at 5:15 p.m. The lecture is free and open to the public and is sponsored by the Center for International Education (CIE), the Office of the Provost, the Williams School of Commerce, Economics, and Politics and the Department of Politics.

Kaplan currently serves as the Robert Strausz-Hupe Chair in Geopolitics at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and is the bestselling author of 22 books on foreign affairs and travel that have been translated into several languages, including “The Good American,” and “The Revenge of Geography.” For Mark Rush, director of the CIE and the Stanley D. and Nikki Waxberg Professor of Politics and Law, Kaplan’s return to W&L could not be more timely given the recent course of global events. During his 2014 visit, Kaplan made it a point to visit classes, conduct reading groups, and meet with students; while on campus for his Nov. 8 lecture, he will meet with the Middle East Politics class taught by Seth Cantey, associate professor of politics and head of W&L’s Middle East and South Asia Studies Program.

“The power and scope of Kaplan’s writing are remarkable,” Rush said. “He has offered important insights from the street level of virtually every part of the world. His predictions have been accurate and his observations profound. His most recent work — ‘The Loom of Time’ — offers sweeping insights into the history and future of the continents of Asia, Africa and Europe. This will be a great event for the university and the community.”

Before joining the Foreign Policy Research Institute, Kaplan reported on foreign affairs for The Atlantic for three decades and was a member of the Pentagon’s Defense Policy Board and the U.S. Navy’s Executive Panel. Foreign Policy magazine twice named him one of the world’s “Top 100 Global Thinkers” and The New York Times has placed Kaplan among the four “most widely read” authors defining the post-Cold War era.

“Kaplan is a giant in the world of international affairs,” Cantey said. “His insights on developments in the Middle East and beyond are always valuable and we are especially lucky to hear from him now.”