Kissinger’s views on foreign policy were formed during the years of confrontation between the two superpowers, the USA and the USSR, he was a supporter of realpolitik – a policy of maneuvering and the search for the possible, often at the expense of principles .
The legendary American diplomat Henry Kissinger died at the age of 101. He managed to become the father of the restoration of US-Chinese relations, peace in Vietnam and détente with Moscow.
Having not held any official position for a long time, he continued to play a prominent role in the political field: this year he was received with honors in Beijing, where he went to seek ways of compromise for further coexistence of the United States and China. , and also attracted significant public attention by laying out his own plan for ending the Russian-Ukrainian war. It is not for nothing that he is called the architect of the world order.
German refugees
When Kissinger was 15 years old, his family fled the Nazis to New York. The young Kissinger went to school in Manhattan while working part-time in a razor brush factory.
In 1943, he was drafted into the army and, thanks to his knowledge of German, was assigned to the intelligence service of the 84th Infantry Division. In 1945-1946 he was engaged in the denazification and search of former SS men in Germany, Hanover and Hesse.
Kissinger graduated with honors from Harvard in 1950 (his 388-page thesis, The Meaning of History, was the longest in the university’s four centuries) and enjoyed a successful career as a professor and pundit for nearly 20 years.
In January 1969, immediately after his inauguration, Richard Nixon offered the famous analyst the position of his national security assistant.
The president had unlimited confidence in Kissinger, while showing, according to Washington observers, contempt for Secretary of State William Rogers who exceeded the bounds of decency.
In 1973, Kissinger, for the only time in US history, concentrated on one hand both key foreign policy posts – Secretary of State and National Security Assistant, maintaining this exceptional position under the successor of Nixon, Gerald Ford.
Views
In his views, Kissinger was a follower of classical Realpolitik, which paid little attention to ideology and human rights.
Kissinger played a major role in bringing the United States and China closer together and establishing relations with the USSR. In particular, his efforts led to US-Soviet arms control negotiations.
The diplomat participated in the resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and helped expand relations between Israel and Arab countries, and in 1973 signed the Paris Peace Agreement to end the Vietnam War. For his role in reaching the agreement, Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize; the diplomat’s victory in this nomination is considered one of the most controversial in history.
The Paris Agreement provided for a cease-fire, the withdrawal of American troops and the peaceful unification of the two parts of the country based on free democratic elections. Difficult negotiations lasted four years.
True, in April 1975 the world ended with the armed seizure of the South by the North and the establishment of a communist dictatorship. Critics have argued that, given the final result, the Nobel Committee was a bit hasty in awarding the prize to Kissinger.
Henry Kissinger resigned from his last official political post in the United States in 1977, but after that he visited China several times, and each time he was received at the highest level, although he no longer represented the official Washington.
Kissinger has always believed that the relationship between Washington and Beijing is key to world stability and development in both countries.
However, relations between them are now at their worst state in decades.
Kissinger has repeatedly criticized the Donald Trump and Joe Biden administrations for this. He said that the US authorities are trying to conduct a dialogue with Beijing, which always begins with accusations against China of various violations of the law and escalation of hostilities.
Henry Kissinger made his last visit to China in July of this year, two months after he celebrated his 100th birthday.
Thoughts about Ukraine
Kissinger managed to speak more than once about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. His statements sometimes provoked mixed reactions.
Before the start of a full-scale war, he said that Ukraine’s entry into NATO was not a wise political decision, which could lead to escalation.
A few months after the invasion began, he proposed that Ukraine surrender territories claimed by Russia in order to end the war as soon as possible. This statement caused a storm of anger in Kyiv and Ukraine’s allies.
But later his views changed.
“Before the war, I was against the membership of Ukraine in NATO because of the fear that exactly what we see now will begin. But in these conditions, the idea of a neutral Ukraine is no longer reasonable,” said Kissinger in January of this year, speaking via video link at the World Economic Forum.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.