--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So far we have seen the weakening and…" description: "\"“So far we have seen the weakening and collapse of small and medium-sized states in Africa and the Middle East. But quasi-anarchy in larger states like..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/443/robert-d-kaplan-12644_geopolitics_so-far-we-have-seen-the-weakening-and-co_533388.png" --- # So far we have seen the weakening and collapse of small… ![“So far we have seen the weakening and collapse of small and medium-sized states in Africa and the Middle East. But quasi-anarchy in larger states like Russia and China, on which the territorial organization of Eurasia hinges, could be next - tied to structural economic causes linked, in turn, to…” quote by Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/443/robert-d-kaplan-12644_geopolitics_so-far-we-have-seen-the-weakening-and-co_533388.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/443/robert-d-kaplan-12644_geopolitics_so-far-we-have-seen-the-weakening-and-co_533388.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/443/robert-d-kaplan-12644_geopolitics_so-far-we-have-seen-the-weakening-and-co_533388.png) > ““So far we have seen the weakening and collapse of small and medium-sized states in Africa and the Middle East. But quasi-anarchy in larger states like Russia and China, on which the territorial organization of Eurasia hinges, could be next - tied to structural economic causes linked, in turn, to slow growth world-wide.”” [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Large states may face breakdown due to slow global growth and economic strain, risking regional instability. **In simple terms:** Big countries could collapse because of weak economies. Key Takeaway Watch economic trends for early warning signs. Themes politics economics geopolitics instability Mood cautious analytical Type forecast analysis geopolitical When to use this quote - policy planning - investment strategy - academic research - risk assessment Key Concepts structural slowdown regional power economic interdependence Questions to Reflect On - How might slower growth affect global power balances? - What policies could mitigate these risks? A Different Perspective Economic predictions are uncertain and can be influenced by political decisions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Eurasia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eurasia-2183067/) [Geopolitics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/geopolitics/) [Larger States](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/larger-states-4475427/) [Middle east](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-east/) [Organization Eurasia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/organization-eurasia-4475426/) [Sized States](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sized-states-4475429/) [Slow growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slow-growth/) [Weakening Collapse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weakening-collapse-4475428/) ## Related quotes > [Eurasia is the world's axial supercontinent. A power that dominated Eurasia would exercise decisive influence over two of the world's three most economically productive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zbigniew-brzezinski/eurasia-is-the-world-s-axial-supercontinent-a-power-that-dominated/) [Zbigniew Brzezinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zbigniew-brzezinski/) > [Since 2008, I have been a Foreign Area Officer specializing in Eurasia. In this role, I have served in the United States' embassies in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-vindman/since-2008-i-have-been-a-foreign-area-officer-specializing-in-eurasia/) [Alexander Vindman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-vindman/) > [All the historical pretenders to global power originated in Eurasia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zbigniew-brzezinski/all-the-historical-pretenders-to-global-power-originated-in-eurasia/) [Zbigniew Brzezinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zbigniew-brzezinski/) > [Ukraine is a vital link for Europe: our energy transportation networks; our location between the European Union and Eurasia. We're the melting pot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yulia-tymoshenko/ukraine-is-a-vital-link-for-europe-our-energy-transportation-networks/) [Yulia Tymoshenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yulia-tymoshenko/) > [The Anglo-Americans want the balance of power in Eurasia. The only balance of power they can achieve now is the whole of Europe against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-heisenberg/the-anglo-americans-want-the-balance-of-power-in-eurasia-the-only/) [Werner Heisenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-heisenberg/) > [North Eurasia is one of the best examples of religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence of Islam and Christianity. This is a rare thing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nursultan-nazarbayev/north-eurasia-is-one-of-the-best-examples-of-religious-tolerance-and/) [Nursultan Nazarbayev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nursultan-nazarbayev/) > [History is marked by alternating movements across the imaginary line that separates East from West in Eurasia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herodotus/history-is-marked-by-alternating-movements-across-the-imaginary-line/) [Herodotus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herodotus/) > [Eurasia is home to most of the world's politically assertive and dynamic states.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zbigniew-brzezinski/eurasia-is-home-to-most-of-the-world-s-politically-assertive-and/) [Zbigniew Brzezinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zbigniew-brzezinski/) > [Eurasia's main axis is east/west, whereas the main axis of the Americas is north/south. Eurasia's east/west axis meant that species domesticated in one part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/eurasia-s-main-axis-is-east-west-whereas-the-main-axis-of-the/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [We want to prevent further destabilization in the world. And we want the status of being a great power: We unfortunately cannot relinquish that.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergey-karaganov/we-want-to-prevent-further-destabilization-in-the-world-and-we-want/) [Sergey Karaganov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergey-karaganov/) > [“It was curious to think that the sky was the same for everybody, in Eurasia or Eastasia as well as here.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-curious-to-think-that-the-sky-was-the-same-for-everybody-in/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Eurasia ended up with the most domesticated animal species in part because it's the world's largest land mass and offered the most wild species…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/eurasia-ended-up-with-the-most-domesticated-animal-species-in-part/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [Oceania was at war with Eurasia; therefore Oceania had always been at war with Eurasia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/oceania-was-at-war-with-eurasia-therefore-oceania-had-always-been-at/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“If Budapest, Bratislava, Prague, Cracow, Warsaw, and Berlin belong to Europe, then why not Leningrad, why not Moscow--indeed, why stop before Vladivostok? It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-konr-d/if-budapest-bratislava-prague-cracow-warsaw-and-berlin-belong-to/) [George Konrád](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-konr-d/) > [The reason we have not gone to newspapers is because its a slow growth industry and I think they are dying. I'm not sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sumner-redstone/the-reason-we-have-not-gone-to-newspapers-is-because-its-a-slow/) [Sumner Redstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sumner-redstone/) ## More by Robert D. Kaplan > [“And so this is where the post Cold War has brought us: to the recognition that the very totalitarism that we fought against in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/and-so-this-is-where-the-post-cold-war-has-brought-us-to-the/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [“Or take the opportunity offered to the United States following the attacks of September 11, 2001, when both Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mohammed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/or-take-the-opportunity-offered-to-the-united-states-following-the/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [When you talk about aiding this country against that country or about fighting terrorism, when you actually take that decision and strip it down,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/when-you-talk-about-aiding-this-country-against-that-country-or-about/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [“One marker, which I would read a bit later on, tells the familiar story of Narcissa Whitman, "trail-blazer and martyred missionary," who followed the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/one-marker-which-i-would-read-a-bit-later-on-tells-the-familiar-story/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [Given the level of anti-Americanism in the world, given the level of frustration with the United States throughout the Muslim world, you've got a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/given-the-level-of-anti-americanism-in-the-world-given-the-level-of/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [The Cold War went on for so long that it bred a kind of worldwide military establishment. Even when budgets went down in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/the-cold-war-went-on-for-so-long-that-it-bred-a-kind-of-worldwide/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [“Europe is a landscape; East Asia a seascape. Therein lies a crucial difference between the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/europe-is-a-landscape-east-asia-a-seascape-therein-lies-a-crucial/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [“Macedonia, the inspiration for the French word for "mixed salad" (macedoine), defines the principle illness of the Balkans: conflicting dreams of lost imperial glory.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/macedonia-the-inspiration-for-the-french-word-for-mixed-salad/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [The more dynamic the capitalistic expansion, the greater the disparity. It is from the disparity that we are going to get all the political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/the-more-dynamic-the-capitalistic-expansion-the-greater-the-disparity/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [It is easy to be a moral perfectionist when one is politically unaccountable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/it-is-easy-to-be-a-moral-perfectionist-when-one-is-politically/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [The masses cannot ultimately be free: only the individual can be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/the-masses-cannot-ultimately-be-free-only-the-individual-can-be/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [The closer one gets to either the eastern or the southern fringe of the German-speaking world-the closer one gets, in other words, to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/the-closer-one-gets-to-either-the-eastern-or-the-southern-fringe-of/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [“The South China Sea functions as the throat of the Western Pacific and Indian oceans—the mass of connective economic tissue where global sea routes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/the-south-china-sea-functions-as-the-throat-of-the-western-pacific/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [“A better age would have to follow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/a-better-age-would-have-to-follow/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [“Europe's era of internal cohesion may already be past.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/europe-s-era-of-internal-cohesion-may-already-be-past/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) [Explore all 54 Robert D. Kaplan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) ## More Geopolitics quotes > [“There is no time for patience - there is no time for diplomacy - there is no time for policies, legislations and meaningless paperwork.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/there-is-no-time-for-patience-there-is-no-time-for-diplomacy-there-is/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [In our changing world nothing changes more than geography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/in-our-changing-world-nothing-changes-more-than-geography/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“It's when the 'international community' expresses 'concern' about your 'situation' that your situation is well and truly fucked.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-d-weiss/it-s-when-the-international-community-expresses-concern-about-your/) [Michael D. Weiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-d-weiss/) > [“Bombs kill terrorists, Books kill terrorism. Missiles kill extremists, Mindfulness kills extremism. Guns kill supremacists, Goodness kills supremacy. Law restrains cruel people, Love reforms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/bombs-kill-terrorists-books-kill-terrorism-missiles-kill-extremists/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“When you love the world like you love your family, that day you'll develop the peacemaker métier.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/when-you-love-the-world-like-you-love-your-family-that-day-you-ll/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [Globalization is incredibly efficient but also so far incredibly unjust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-lamy/globalization-is-incredibly-efficient-but-also-so-far-incredibly/) [Pascal Lamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-lamy/) > [In the post-Snowden world, you need to enable others to build their own cloud and have mobility of applications. That’s both because of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/satya-nadella/in-the-post-snowden-world-you-need-to-enable-others-to-build-their/) [Satya Nadella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/satya-nadella/) > [Geopolitics is all about leverage. We cannot make ourselves safer abroad unless we change our behavior at home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/geopolitics-is-all-about-leverage-we-cannot-make-ourselves-safer/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [Moreover, as America becomes an increasingly multi-cultural society, it may find it more difficult to fashion a consensus on foreign policy issues, except in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zbigniew-brzezinski/moreover-as-america-becomes-an-increasingly-multi-cultural-society-it/) [Zbigniew Brzezinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zbigniew-brzezinski/) > [The fact that Universal Jurisdiction exists in relation to serious international crimes does convey two important aspects of the global reality: first, that such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-a-falk/the-fact-that-universal-jurisdiction-exists-in-relation-to-serious/) [Richard A. Falk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-a-falk/) > [“War is expensive, peace is free, yet war is petty, peace is priceless.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/war-is-expensive-peace-is-free-yet-war-is-petty-peace-is-priceless/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“You don't have to be a superpower to be a peacemaker.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/you-don-t-have-to-be-a-superpower-to-be-a-peacemaker/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“Patriotism is the antithesis of world peace.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/patriotism-is-the-antithesis-of-world-peace/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [Hence not only the crisis of geopolitics and geostrategy but also the shift towards the emergence and dominance of chronostrategy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-virilio/hence-not-only-the-crisis-of-geopolitics-and-geostrategy-but-also-the/) [Paul Virilio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-virilio/) > [“And finally: algorithmic modeling + global positioning + human scaling + computational speed = data geopolitics. Political power used to be measured in missiles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-jarzombek/and-finally-algorithmic-modeling-global-positioning-human-scaling/) [Mark Jarzombek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-jarzombek/) [Browse all 74 Geopolitics quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/geopolitics/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“So far we have seen the weakening and collapse of small and medium-sized states in Africa and the Middle East. But quasi-anarchy in larger states like Russia and China, on which the territorial organization of Eurasia hinges, could be next - tied to structural economic causes linked, in turn, to slow growth world-wide.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert D. 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