Good American by Robert D Kaplan

Good American by Robert D Kaplan

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Revenge of Geography comes a sweeping yet intimate story of the most influential humanitarian you've never heard of--Bob Gersony, who spent four decades in crisis zones around the world.

This graceful study of a courageous and humble man reminds us that history can be made, and lives can be saved, by diplomats who know how to reconcile the good with the possible.--Timothy Snyder, author of The Road to Unfreedom and On Tyranny

In his long career as an acclaimed journalist covering the hot moments of the Cold War and its aftermath, bestselling author Robert D. Kaplan often found himself crossing paths with Bob Gersony, a consultant for the U.S. State Department whose quiet dedication and consequential work made a deep impression on Kaplan.

Gersony, a high school dropout later awarded a Bronze Star for his service in Vietnam, conducted on-the-ground research for the U.S. government in virtually every war and natural-disaster zone in the world. In Thailand, Central and South America, Sudan, Chad, Mozambique, Rwanda, Gaza, Bosnia, North Korea, Iraq, and beyond, Gersony never flinched from entering dangerous areas that diplomats could not reach, sometimes risking his own life. Gersony's behind-the scenes fact-finding, which included interviews with hundreds of refugees and displaced persons from each war zone and natural-disaster area, often challenged the assumptions and received wisdom of the powers that be, on both the left and the right. In nearly every case, his advice and recommendations made American policy at once smarter and more humane--often dramatically so.

In Gersony, Kaplan saw a powerful example of how American diplomacy should be conducted. In a work that exhibits Kaplan's signature talent for combining travel and geography with sharp political analysis, The Good American tells Gersony's powerful life story. Set during the State Department's golden age, this is a story about the loneliness, sweat, and tears and the genuine courage that characterized Gersony's work in far-flung places. It is also a celebration of ground-level reporting: a page-turning demonstration, by one of our finest geopolitical thinkers, of how getting an up-close, worm's-eye view of crises and applying sound reason can elicit world-changing results.

Earning the Mountains, In Europe's Shadow, Asia's Cauldron, The Revenge of Geography, Monsoon, The Coming Anarchy, and Balkan Ghosts are among Kaplan's bestselling works on global politics and travel, which have been translated into numerous languages. He works as a senior advisor at Eurasia Group and a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. His writing was published in The Atlantic for three decades. He was a member of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board and held the national security chair at the United States Naval Academy. He has been designated one of the world's Top 100 Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine on two occasions.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780525512301
ISBN 10	0525512306
Title	Good American
Author	Robert D Kaplan
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Random House USA Inc
Year published	2021-01-26
Number of pages	528
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.