Kaplan's the Ends of the Earth Analysis

Kaplan's the Ends of the Earth Analysis

  • Submitted By: rabunc
  • Date Submitted: 12/06/2008 8:26 AM
  • Category: Social Issues
  • Words: 475
  • Page: 2
  • Views: 350

Ryan Bregier Whiteness 11/04/08 Chapter two of Robert D. Kaplan's book entitled, The Ends of the Earth,takes place in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. It is in this place that the “minister”claims that he has never seen things look so bad. He discusses how, while things were not great under British rule, things have fallen report to an even greater degree since then. Kaplan's argument in this section articulates his bias in favor of colonialism. Not does chaplain see the current conditions as a result of the lack of order in the area, but he points to many of the current conditions as being proof of the region's inability to govern itself effectively. He goes on to make an argument for why the region is further deteriorating from its current state by evidence of the state’s inability to act in its citizens best interest. Kaplan observesthat the cultural practice of polygamy is now causing HIV to become a rampant problem that is rapidly spreading as this idea evolves into the urban scene. By Kaplan's accounts, Sierra Leone is teetering on the edge of self-destruction; intervention is not only necessary, but obvious and dire. On page 36, Kaplan continues this reference to the stability of Sierra Leone and thesuccess it has had as a state in the description of Sierra Leone Airways in Ghana Airlines. Kaplan describes Ghana airwaves by saying that its flights to Freetown were unreliablein that not only did the flights arrive many hours late but they're often overbooked. He then goes on to compare this to WISWAS, which he describes as a small unaccredited company that was run by a Spaniard out of Monrovia, the war-racked Liberian capital, that with help from South Africans, Russian pilots in old Antonovplanes, offered the safest connections to the Sierra Leone from elsewhere in West Africa. Kaplan's point in this section is clear again--the Spaniard, using second rate equipment, was more successful in making airfare safe and reliable than either Sierra Leone...

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