Robert Kagan

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert Kagan (2008)

Robert Kagan (born September 26, 1958 in Athens , Greece ) is an American author, speaker and political advisor who works for the US government , among other things . He is one of the best-known neoconservatives in the United States . Kagan is a specialist in international politics, particularly security policy , terrorism , the Balkans , the Russian-American relations and issues relating to NATO enlargement .

Life

Robert Kagan is the son of the historian Donald Kagan , who teaches ancient history at Yale and was temporarily dean there; his younger brother Frederick teaches as a professor of military history at the US Military Academy at West Point . Robert Kagan is a graduate of Yale University and holds a master's degree in political science and international relations from Harvard University . Kagan is married to the US diplomat Victoria Nuland . With her, Kagan has two children.

Consultancy

In 1983, Kagan advised the future Republican vice-presidential candidate Jack Kemp on foreign policy issues. From 1984 to 1985 he was an advisor and speechwriter to Secretary of State George P. Shultz . Kagan was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and served in the US State Department from 1984 to 1988 . He served as foreign policy advisor to 2008 Republican presidential candidate , Senator John McCain, and 2012 Republican presidential candidate , Mitt Romney . In February 2016, however, Kagan spoke out vehemently against Donald Trump in a sensational article and described himself only as a "former Republican"; he accused his former party of failing because it was no longer capable of constructive policies and declared that he wanted to vote for Hillary Clinton to save the country. He left the Republican Party , criticized Donald Trump's "fascism" and supported Hillary Clinton.

Journalistic activity

Kagan co-founded the influential neoconservative think tank Project for the New American Century (PNAC) and is currently a board member of the Foreign Policy Initiative , a fellow of the German Marshall Fund, and a senior partner of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank , where he led the US Leadership Project . Kagan writes a monthly column for the Washington Post . He is also a regular contributor to The New Republic , Commentary , World Affairs , Policy Review and The Weekly Standard . He also wrote a number of bestsellers on international politics, which also met with interest in Europe. In 2008, Jan Ross called him the “third most famous great interpreter in world politics” after Francis Fukuyama and Samuel P. Huntington .

Geopolitical Positions

In his 2003 book “Power and Powerlessness”, Kagan questions the transatlantic consensus on foreign affairs. In his view, there is no longer a common strategic culture that links Europe and the United States. Europe has developed into a "post-historical paradise" of peace and prosperity, which in the sense of idealism in international relations relies on trans, international and supranational cooperation. Power is tamed and hedged. The USA, on the other hand, would see itself ( according to realism in international relations ) in an anarchist Hobbesian world of the “ bellum omnium contra omnes ” (“war of all against all”). According to this, only military power could ensure security, freedom and prosperity. Europe's “post-historical paradise” was only possible because the US had not taken the same step and had offered Europe military protection.

In “Democracy and Its Enemies” from 2008, Kagan states that the expected global victory of the Western ideals of freedom and progress has not materialized. The US and the EU no longer dominated the international landscape, but an ensemble of old and new great powers, including the rising China and the resurgent Russia , but also India , Japan and ambitious regional powers like Iran . The main characteristic of the young 21st century is the return of power politics and power competition. Kagan identifies an underlying deeper, ideological motive: a struggle between democracy and autocracy . China and Russia are not just any powers, but anti-Western and anti-liberal, governed by dictatorship and patron saints of other dictatorships. Unlike the former Soviet Union , they are not ailing, but economically potent and have found a way to combine capitalism and authoritarian rule. The liberal democracies, America and Europe, would have to quickly overcome their differences (realism versus idealism in international politics) in order to be able to cope with the new systemic conflict.

In an essay from 2019, Kagan considers “The return of the German question” to be possible. After decades of being linked to the West, the Federal Republic appears to be a solid democracy with a pacifist attitude. But the conditions, Kagan warns, under which this civil Germany could survive, are increasingly less given. Trump's turning away from multilateralism and illiberal tendencies in numerous European states also strengthen the temptation of a nationalist and militarily supported policy in Berlin. But this threatens the return of the destructive competition between nations in Europe.

Fonts (selection)

Books

  • A twilight struggle. American power and Nicaragua, 1977-1990. Free Press, New York NY et al. 1996, ISBN 0-02-874057-2 .
  • Of paradise and power. America and Europe in the new world order . Knopf, New York 2003, ISBN 1-400040-93-0 .
    • Power and powerlessness. America and Europe in the new world order. Translated by Thorsten Schmidt, Siedler, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-88680-794-0 .
  • Dangerous nation . Knopf, New York 2006, ISBN 0-37-541105-4
  • The return of history and the end of dreams . Knopf, New York 2008, ISBN 978-0-30726-923-2 .
    • Democracy and its enemies. Who is shaping the new world order? Translated by Thorsten Schmidt, Siedler, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-88680-890-8 .
  • The World America Made. Alfred A. Knopf, New York NY 2012, ISBN 978-0-307-96131-0 .
  • The Jungle Grows Back: America and Our Imperiled World. Alfred A. Knopf, New York 2018, ISBN 978-0-525-52165-5

Journal articles in German translation

Web links

Wikiquote: Robert Kagan  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Robert Kagan: We will still rule tomorrow. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . November 6, 2012.
  2. ↑ Robert Kagan: Trump is the GOP Frankenstein Monster. In: The Washington Post . February 25, 2016.
  3. ^ Robert Kagan: This is how fascism comes to America. In: The Washington Post .
  4. ↑ Robert Kagan ( Memento of February 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) on the website of LeighBureau Ltd.
  5. ↑ Marc F. Plattner, Aleksander Smolar (Ed.): Globalization, Power, and Democracy. JHU Press, 2000, ISBN 0-8018-6568-9 , p. 97.
  6. ↑ a b Jan Ross: Illusion of strength. Robert Kagan on today's struggle between autocracy and democracy . In: Die Zeit , No. 24/2008, June 5, 2008.
  7. ↑ Robert Kagan: Power and Powerlessness. America and Europe in the new world order. Siedler, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-88680-794-0 ; Kagan's essay Power and Weakness offers a more concise presentation of the argument . What is driving the United States and Europe apart . In: Blätter for German and international politics , 10/2002, pp. 1194–1206.
  8. ↑ Kiran Klaus Patel Review of: Kagan, Robert: Macht und Ohnmacht. America and Europe in the new world order . Berlin 2003, in: H-Soz-Kult, April 23, 2003.
  9. ↑ Robert Kagan: Democracy and its enemies. Who is shaping the new world order? Siedler, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-88680-890-8 .
  10. ↑ Robert Kagan: The return of the German question . In: Blätter for German and international politics , 5/2019, pages 63–73; Original: The New German Question . In: Foreign Affairs , May / June 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Kagan, Robert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American political advisor
DATE OF BIRTH September 26, 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH Athens , Greece