Kaplan - In Europes shadow : two cold wars and a thirty-year journey through Romania and beyond

O ana-Antonia Colibanu, an associate professor at the University of Bucharest, has been a guiding spirit in the research behind this book since I began serious work on it in 2012. Her shrewd perceptions about individuals and historical context immensely improved the manuscript, which she checked and commented upon. This is in addition to helping me on everything from arranging travel to inserting diacritical marks for Romanian words.

Dennis Deletant, visiting professor of Romanian studies at Georgetown University and emeritus professor at University College, London, read and corrected the manuscript, as did his erudite Georgetown colleague, Professor of International Affairs Charles King. Vladimir Tismneanu of the University of Maryland, the author of several books on Communist and post-Communist Europe, also read and commented upon the manuscript, and in general plied me with advice on the subject matter, including books to read and people to interview. Dr. Ernest H. Latham Jr., a former American diplomat in Romania and an assiduous researcher in his own right, also made corrections on the manuscript, and opened up his vast library on Romanian subjects for me to explore. I am deeply grateful for all of this assistance, though, I emphasize, all mistakes and other flaws herein are completely my own.

My wife, Maria Cabral, continues to put up with my absences and provide a loving and gracious home for me always to return to, which she has done for well over three decades now. She has truly been the silent hand behind whatever I have been able to achieve. My chief assistant, Elizabeth M. Lockyer, in addition to helping me on the maps, photographs, and bibliography, continueswith help from Dede Rathbunto punctiliously organize my professional life, which has allowed me the luxury to devote so much attention to writing books.

Gail Hochman, Marianne Merola, and Henry Thayer at Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents worked prodigiously to provide me with the resources and much else to proceed with this project, among others. The late Carl D. Brandt, my agent for a quarter century, helped me in the early stages to think through what I wanted to convey to the reader. My long friendship with Carl continues to yield fruit, and I expect will do so into the future. My former editor at Random House, Jonathan Jao, now at HarperCollins, was a source of excellent and canny judgment in the early stages of the publishing process. He and Gail Hochman were fierce defenders of my idea for writing a book about Romania, Romanian Communism, and the threat from Russia long before the Ukraine crisis made its relevance more obvious. At Random House, Kate Medina and Anna Pitoniak took this book project under their wing with fastidiousness and loving care. Kate runs a crisp and classy editorial shop within Random House, and Annas judgment on the manuscript and much else was indicative of this. For a number of my books already, Steve Messina at Random House has handled the copyediting and correction process with extraordinary calm and efficiency, for which I remain grateful.

Joy de Menil, who along with Jason Epstein was my editor at Random House in the 1990s, advised me early on to highlight my Cold War memories in the book. Lidia Bodea, the director general of Editura Humanitas in Bucharestmy Romanian publisherencouraged me to keep the narrative deeply personal throughout. Simona Kessler, my literary agent in Bucharest, made me aware of various books on Romanian philosophy that I otherwise might have missed. Whatever merits this book has are due substantially to such guidance.

My preoccupation with Romania has, over the past three and a half decades, resulted in a number of enduring friendships and professional relationships, as well as kindnesses offered. In this vein, let me thank Cristian Mihai Adomniei, Adriano Bosoni, Sergiu Celac, Eugene Chausovsky, Corneliu Ciurea, Radu Dudu, Mircea Geoan, Lauren Goodrich, Andrei Hincu, Ioanna Ieronim, Major General (Ret.) Mihai Ionescu, Tudor Jijie, Ioana Leucea, Octavian Manea, Teodor Melecanu, Silviu Nate, Laureniu Pachiu, Adam Reising, Alex erban, Kiki Skagen-Harris, Georgia Clin tefan, Professor Laureniu tefan, Marius Stoian, and Berbeca Veaceslav.

There are, too, George and Meredith Friedman, who introduced me to their Stratfor colleague Antonio Colibasanu in the first place. George was born in postWorld War II Hungary and did not speak English until he was seven. His knowledge of the region is profound, even as I have at times disagreed with him. My decision a half decade ago to write a book about Romania, along with a first encounter with George and Meredith in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2011, was fortuitous. Stratfor, of which George is the founder, has pursued advisory services in a number of countries, including Romania. During the time I wrote a weekly column for Stratfor, from 2012 to 2014, I took no part in this activity. This book was generated by love of subject only.

I completed In Europes Shadow as a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security in Washington, which I rejoined in 2015 after four years there, from 2008 to 2012. I am grateful to its leadershipCEO Michele Flournoy, President Richard Fontaine, and Director of Studies Shawn Brimleyfor integrating me back into a highly caffeinated and altogether meticulous organizational culture that both stimulated me intellectually and allowed me time alone to write.

BY ROBERT D. KAPLAN

In Europes Shadow: Two Cold Wars and a Thirty-Year Journey Through Romania and Beyond

Asias Cauldron: The South China Sea and the End of a Stable Pacific

The Revenge of Geography: What the Map Tells Us About Coming Conflicts and the Battle Against Fate

Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power

Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts: The American Military in the Air, at Sea, and on the Ground

Imperial Grunts: The American Military on the Ground

Mediterranean Winter: The Pleasures of History and Landscape in Tunisia, Sicily, Dalmatia, and the Peloponnese

Warrior Politics: Why Leadership Demands a Pagan Ethos

Eastward to Tartary: Travels in the Balkans, the Middle East, and the Caucasus

The Coming Anarchy: Shattering the Dreams of the Post Cold War

An Empire Wilderness: Travels into Americas Future

The Ends of the Earth: From Togo to Turkmenistan, from Iran to Cambodia

The Arabists: The Romance of an American Elite

Balkan Ghosts: A Journey Through History

Soldiers of God: With Islamic Warriors in Afghanistan and Pakistan

Surrender or Starve: Travels in Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, and Eritrea