If you look at the history of the U.S., we were an empire long before we were a nation.

ISBN 0-375-75489-X. Kaplan (2003-11-11). Kaplan (2001-02-13).

In 2009 Secretary of Defense Robert Gates appointed Kaplan to the Defense Policy Board a federal advisory committee to the United States Department of Defense. He is currently working for Stratfor in Austin TX. In 2011 Foreign Policy magazine named Kaplan as one of the world's "top 100 global thinkers.