According to Robert D. Kaplan, in his "Warrior Politics: Why Leadership Demands a Pagan Ethos," politicians and democracies will not only have to be masters of the new technologies of war to fight their enemies under the cloak of secrecy and darkness, but learn to apply the knowledge of conflict amassed by mankind since antiquity.

Kaplan's book is remarkable in a number of ways. It is a superb mixture of political theory, cultural history and philosophy. He reminds us that the last century is not a model of international relations to cope with the post-Cold War world and globalization of this century. Instead, we need to learn from the great masters of politics thought, namely Sun-Tzu, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Kant and Hamilton.

This book is also a primer and a warning for world leaders, especially the leadership of the United States. This century looks like it will be a bleak one. America's hegemonic position in the world makes it a target for radicalized groups around the world, which will attempt a wide array of terrorist acts in an effort to change the status quo. Kaplan points out that America's sense of morality – with its base in Judeo-Christian values – is not a sufficient outlook to comprehend the brave new world. Kaplan persuasively suggests a "pagan" approach to international relations based on "virtue" and commonsense.

Kaplan does not believe in progress or any ideology; he supports what can be achieved in a world undergoing a breakneck rate of change. One only hopes that someone close to President George W. Bush will brief the American president on this treasury of thoughtfulness.