Robert D. Kaplan is a journalist, geopolitical analyst, and author known for his influential book *Balkan Ghosts: A Journey Through History*, which shaped American foreign policy debates during the Yugoslav Wars. He has written extensively on foreign affairs, conflict zones, and geopolitics for publications including The Atlantic. He contributed to The Weekly Standard with reflections on the Balkans and its political complexities.
Balkan Ghosts: A Journey Through History -- a book I wrote in the late 1980s and completed in January 1991, months before the first shot was fired in ex-Yugoslavia -- seems to have become a litmus test among the policy nomenklatura in Washington. Apparently, if you like the book, it means that you…