The US is “in the business of empire”, states Robert D Kaplan in The Atlantic. This is his list of “Rules for Managing the World”:

1. Produce More Joppolos

2. Stay on the Move

3. Emulate Second-Century Rome

4. Use the Military to Promote Democracy

5. Be Light and Lethal

6. Bring Back the Old Rules

7. Remember the Philippines

8. The Mission is Everything

9. Fight on Every Front

10. Speak Victorian, Think Pagan

The Babu chuckled all the way through the Kaplan interview until a terrible suspicion dawned on him: the man is serious, and this wasn’t some sort of elaborate practical joke orchestrated by the Atlantic.