His message, as I understood it, was that this "revenge" is really just a reassertion in the minds of policymakers of the basic importance of geography. He isn't saying that geography ever went away, but that we've tended to think of it as less important in our modern world.
With so much talk these days about globalization, interconnectedness, and the importance of ideology, I think Kaplan is just saying that we need to recognize we are still constrained by the concrete realities of good old-fashioned terrain. In a sense this is in agreement with your statement that "geography just is", but I think he finds it necessary to point this out because many policymakers are so concentrated on religion, political ideology, and other more abstract forces.
In a sense, Steve Blair is right too that this isn't "new", but I think it is important and smart of Kaplan to point it out nonetheless. This is because sometimes things are neglected just because they are seen as "old". Kaplan is correct in saying that people assign perhaps too much importance to religion and ideology, and not enough to the basics like geography.
(By the way, I'm new here. This is my first post, as you can no doubt see. So far I'm enjoying the good conversations and thoughtful comments.)
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