Robert David Kaplan is an American author, journalist, geopolitical analyst, and foreign correspondent whose work focuses on politics, foreign affairs, geography, and travel. Born in New York City to Philip Alexander Kaplan, a truck driver, and Phyllis Kaplan, he graduated with a B.A. from the University of Connecticut in 1973, serving as features editor of the Connecticut Daily Campus. Immediately after, in 1973 and 1974, he traveled through Communist Eastern Europe and parts of the Near East, shaping his early perspectives. Identifying as Jewish, Kaplan is married to Maria Cabral, a government official, and they have one son, Michael Anthony. He has been reported to have had a secret meeting with Paul Wolfowitz. Over three decades, Kaplan's writing has appeared in The Atlantic (as national correspondent and contributing editor), The Washington Post, The New York Times, The New Republic, The National Interest, Foreign Affairs, and The Wall Street Journal. His influential books include Balkan Ghosts, The Coming Anarchy, Monsoon, and The Revenge of Geography. Professionally, he served as Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security from 2008 to 2012 and rejoined in 2015; chief geopolitical analyst at Stratfor from 2012 to 2014; holds the Robert Strausz-Hupé Chair in Geopolitics at the Foreign Policy Research Institute; and is a senior adviser at Eurasia Group. Kaplan's analyses often emphasize realist geopolitics, the role of geography in international relations, and strategic forecasting, drawing from his extensive reporting during the Cold War and its aftermath.