In the first chapter of the book, the author, Robert D. Kaplan argues how China expands vertically and horizontally for India. Kaplan claims that China is constructing and upgrading naval bases as well as commercial establishments. We also learned that the country is having a road construction, waterway and pipeline that link from Bengal Bay to Yunnan Province in China. These structures portray their importance to China because the said Indian Ocean ports, which has road from north to south and railway links would surely help economically release landlocked China. And so as for the simple term, China was explained as to be expanding vertically because the country wants its influence to be expanded down south to the Indian Ocean’s warm water. Kaplan also claims the India’s expansion horizontally as it aims to spread its influence westward and eastward. One good example that we learned about India’s horizontal expansion is its plan to build a link from Chah Bahar Iranian port and Central Asia stretching all the way reaching St. Petersburg, Russia. These arguments helped us understand why China and India want to expand as the countries they are targeting to link with would help them economically as their influences will also spread.
In chapter two of his book, Kaplan portrayed Oman as Indian Ocean trade’s birthplace. In his writing, he claims that Oman, as it connects Africa and Persia, became the central hub for frankincense trading, and so we learned that the author asserts that Oman was also basis for shipping routes and economic existence, hence, the country’s trade brought certain cosmopolitanism, which is not often related with Arab kingdoms. We agree with the author’s claims as how he described Oman’s persistent and unique character because of the country’s contact to other countries, as well as its unique geography and important populations of Africans, Persians and Indians that all made a contribution along with the construction of Grand Mosque located in Muscat that became Oman’s symbol.
Works Cited
Kaplan, Robert D. Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power. New York: Random House, 2010. Print.
