Granite,
Some of the comments that Bacevich said in his interview made me think of Kaplan's book. In his book, Kaplan goes and visits U.S. military members in some far off places; Mongolia is one example. He avoids the usual spots like Iraq and Afghanistan in this book and instead, focuses on the fringes of where the military is, conducting equally important jobs but without the media focus. Kaplan's thesis (in my interpretation) is the U.S. military is in fact an imperial force, spreading the values, cultures, messages and influences of the U.S. no matter where they go or what the job. From a military attace to an SF team in South America, every member of the U.S. military takes pieces of America with him or her. While we are not forcefully occupying terrority or enslaving a population, we bring a lot of "Soft Power" (to quote Joseph Nye) with us along with the obvious hard power. In fact, all of Kaplan's book focuses on the soft powers these "Imperial Grunts" bring with them.
Although Kaplan may be politically opposite to Bacevich, the two of them do share a healthy love of the U.S. military. Kaplan has spoken frequently at Fort Leavenworth and I've spoken with him both in person and over e-mail numerous times. Part of me gets the impression that he sees the military as a kindred spirit as him: wandering the globe into some of the worst places imaginable...and always having a story to tell once they return home to the U.S.
Let me know what you think.
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