How Has Robert Kaplan's 'Pagan Ethos' and 'Imperial Grunts' Philosophies Affected NCO Leadership Training to Enhance U.S. Foreign Policy?

MSgt Ken "Airsoldier" Collins-Hardy — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 13:57:35 -0400

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 1 at 2016 2:35 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 14:35:25 -0400

Robert Kaplan is an influential writer, however you may need to provide some more detail on how you believe his ideas about 'Pagan Ethos' and 'Imperial Grunts' have impacted NCO leadership training and US foreign policy.

I know he was one of those who supported the Iraq war early on and in hindsight I suspect most would agree that wasn't the best of ideas. I would like to believe that the neo-conservative push to establish American dominance around the world has fallen out of favor.

As for "Pagan Ethos" I haven't read the book, however it's title leads me to believe it's full of muddled and sloppy thinking. Pagan is an umbrella term that includes everything from the Roman Empire to the traditional Hopi way of life to the Shinto religion in Japan... if he's going to cherry pick from thousands of different religions in thousands of different cultures over many thousands of years... I'm disinclined to lend that type of thinking any credibility. If he had labeled his book Warrior Ethos of the Roman Legionary during the Early Republic, I'd be a lot more interested.