When you talk about aiding this country against that country or about fighting terrorism, when you actually take that decision and strip it down, it always comes down to one person in the field giving specialized training to somebody else in the field.

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.