If a person looks at a map of the world, all they see is colors, shapes, and names of countries. These lines on a map were drummed up by the empires of old and labeled it as the subject of geography. Geography may look like lines and colors on a map but, it is much deeper than that. It is the physical features of those lines on a map and the people who live there. In his book, Asia’s Cauldron, Robert D. Kaplan explains how physical and cultural geography is an important factor when dealing with the issue of the South China Sea in Southeast Asia. Throughout his book, he argues whether or not the South China Sea should be worth protecting, argues that the surrounding cultures can, and also how his argument relates to my personal Christian convictions.
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These countries are in the stomping ground of major countries such as: China, India, and even the far off Japanese. These countries have helped developed an ever confusing culture to those of the South China Sea. Kaplan’s thesis essentially states that if the countries do not step up their game in the area of the South China Sea, the Chinese will take over causing an unstoppable force . His book feels like a call to action to the countries of Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Brunei, Taiwan, and The Philippines. Each country can do their part in establishing a better grasp of this aquatic frontier of the South China Sea. Two areas of frontier and targets for expansion that China is seeking are of the Spratly and Paracel Islands. The Paracel Islands are located off the coast of Vietnam and lately, Vietnam has been reunited in fighting its old expansionist enemy of China. These islands have a historical claim by China that dates back to roughly the third century maps claim that the islands of Spratly and Paracel belong to them . Kaplan defends his arguments in this part of the book by saying that China will take these islands for the use of submarine or naval bases. Vietnam’s counter to this solution is to get aid from other world powers …show more content…
He writes that he has friends who are scholars in many of the countries that have a stake in this issue. The argument that Kaplan mainly states in his book is that these countries need to work together and he also brings the United States in on various points to say that it should be possible to increase the fading naval power that was once there. American naval power in this area would drastically help the smaller countries, but it could also devastate relationships. One such relationship is that of The Philippines and The United States. Kaplan mentions that U.S. and Philippine relations are similar to that of Iraq. Americans assumed the same way did in the Philippians that they did in Iraq. America assumed that the country would be friendly to foreign aid, however in Iraq they were not mainly because of Soviet scars of the past. The Philippians welcomed the American aid, however, due to sympathizers who were against the United States, a short and devastating war broke out . Kaplan use of history is very important to the overall story that is playing out in the South China Sea, though his geopolitical theories do not have a big picture. A critic of Kaplan, Thomas A. Breslin of Florida International University exclaims “there are master 's theses and possibly even doctoral dissertations still to be written on the strands Kaplan has overlooked or left undeveloped.” What Breslin is
These countries are in the stomping ground of major countries such as: China, India, and even the far off Japanese. These countries have helped developed an ever confusing culture to those of the South China Sea. Kaplan’s thesis essentially states that if the countries do not step up their game in the area of the South China Sea, the Chinese will take over causing an unstoppable force . His book feels like a call to action to the countries of Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Brunei, Taiwan, and The Philippines. Each country can do their part in establishing a better grasp of this aquatic frontier of the South China Sea. Two areas of frontier and targets for expansion that China is seeking are of the Spratly and Paracel Islands. The Paracel Islands are located off the coast of Vietnam and lately, Vietnam has been reunited in fighting its old expansionist enemy of China. These islands have a historical claim by China that dates back to roughly the third century maps claim that the islands of Spratly and Paracel belong to them . Kaplan defends his arguments in this part of the book by saying that China will take these islands for the use of submarine or naval bases. Vietnam’s counter to this solution is to get aid from other world powers …show more content…
He writes that he has friends who are scholars in many of the countries that have a stake in this issue. The argument that Kaplan mainly states in his book is that these countries need to work together and he also brings the United States in on various points to say that it should be possible to increase the fading naval power that was once there. American naval power in this area would drastically help the smaller countries, but it could also devastate relationships. One such relationship is that of The Philippines and The United States. Kaplan mentions that U.S. and Philippine relations are similar to that of Iraq. Americans assumed the same way did in the Philippians that they did in Iraq. America assumed that the country would be friendly to foreign aid, however in Iraq they were not mainly because of Soviet scars of the past. The Philippians welcomed the American aid, however, due to sympathizers who were against the United States, a short and devastating war broke out . Kaplan use of history is very important to the overall story that is playing out in the South China Sea, though his geopolitical theories do not have a big picture. A critic of Kaplan, Thomas A. Breslin of Florida International University exclaims “there are master 's theses and possibly even doctoral dissertations still to be written on the strands Kaplan has overlooked or left undeveloped.” What Breslin is