Robert D Kaplan’s book The Tragic Mind: Fear, Fate and The Burden of Power, drawing from his forty-year career as a foreign correspondent, presents a compelling exploration into the meaning and essence of tragedy. The book is a profound reflection on the inevitability of tragedy, the criticality of understanding the tragic dimension and the nature of power in political and personal realms of leadership.
In his formative years i.e., in the 1980s, the author, as a young foreign correspondent, covered regions like East Europe and the Middle East. His experiences, especially in countries’ regimes like Ceauscecu’s Romania and Saddam Hussain’s Iraq, shaped his perspectives on chaos, order and the nature of power. Later in his career, in the early 2000s, Robert D Kaplan’s encounter with extreme anarchy, in Iraq, which he describes as chaos, led him to appreciate the ancient Greek philosophers’ fear of anarchy and their value for order, even if it is tyrannical. The author also resonates with the medieval Persian philosopher Abu Hamid al-Ghazali’s argument that one year of anarchy is worse than a hundred years of tyranny.
Apart from reflecting on the nature of power and the inevitability of tragedy, the author delves into understanding the tragic dimension in both political and personal realms of leadership. The author emphasises that tragedy is not merely about the triumph of good over another good, but the exalted striving against insurmountable forces, leading to more awareness about our lives.
In the book, the author accepts that supporting America’s Iraq War was his gravest mistake that he deeply regrets. The realisation of his failure as a realist on such a significant issue and the clinical depression caused by it drove him to write this book. The author’s objective in writing this book is to emphasise the importance of thinking tragically to avoid tragedy.
The book highlights the works world’s greatest tragic artists, which include Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Shakespeare, emphasising their contributions to understanding the tragic dimension of human lives. According to Robert D Kaplan, these artists are the world’s foremost contributors to the realm of tragedy.
Robert D Kaplan’s work is a testament to his depth of knowledge and his ability to weave broader philosophical and historical perspectives with his personal experiences. In the book, he argues that tragedy begins with a searing awareness of the narrow choices we encounter in our lives. In his understanding, the world has constraints and self-awareness is to understand, in a given situation, what is possible and what is not. However, he suggests that such self-awareness often comes too late to affect or change the outcomes.
The book delves profoundly into the ancient Greek philosophers’ fear of anarchy and appreciation for law and order. The author states that Greeks found great value in learning how to fear chaos and, thus avoid it at all costs. Fear warns us of so many things that can befall us as a nation or as individuals. Therefore, the wisest amongst us, according to the author, is the one who is full of fear and future-oriented. This is true, especially for those who are in leadership and whose decisions can cause war and peace amongst nations. According to Robert D Kaplan, wise leaders are those who know that they must think tragically to avoid tragedy.
The book concludes by emphasising the inherent challenges and uncertainties that leaders face, especially in the realm of international relations. The author underscores that despite the vast knowledge and intelligence available to leaders, they often operate within a fog of uncertainty vis-a-vis the intention of their adversaries. To substantiate his argument, he gave the example of Vladimir Putin, who miscalculated his military action in Ukraine. The book highlights that history advises prudence and stresses that leadership and decision-making are fundamentally about personal character. The book suggests that while ambition can be a driving force, it is the understanding of constraints, the acceptance of the unknown, and the ability to think tragically that can help leaders to navigate the complexities of power and avoid tragedies.
