Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger, US diplomat, 1923-2023
Former secretary of state and national security adviser preached and personified realpolitik
Henry Kissinger: A Legacy of Realpolitik Diplomacy
For nearly a decade, Henry Kissinger, the US national security adviser and secretary of state who has died at 100, was able to put into practice what he had preached in his academic career — that realpolitik diplomacy was rooted in the understanding that achieving a balance of power, as was in place between the demise of Napoleon and the tumult of 1848, required taking the interests of all parties into consideration, but not necessarily the interests of those not holding power.
Under US presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford from 1969 to 1977, Kissinger was unquestionably the dominant international statesman of his time. His every sentence was parsed around the world and his travels keenly followed. He appeared to provide a plausible US foreign policy road map for a domestic audience and a network of US allies as they both looked to Washington for assurance and leadership at the height of the cold war between two nuclear superpowers.
Yet, with the passage of time and hindsight, Kissinger became both revered and reviled. He came into office confronting three big regional problems: Asia (the Vietnam war and China under the imponderable Mao Zedong), the Soviet Union (the adversary in the cold war) and the Middle East (oil, a perennial powder keg). His successful rapprochement with China, a Nixon idea that Kissinger implemented and a staggering achievement by any standards, was offset by his secret bombing of Cambodia during the Vietnam war. Certainly in 1968 he had done his best to undermine the existing peace talks in Paris, thereby helping Nixon’s presidential campaign. Nonetheless, in 1973 he was controversially awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, along with Le Duc Tho, his North Vietnamese counterpart — a premature accolade because hostilities did not end until the fall of Saigon in 1975.
His nuclear arms control agreements with the Soviet Union were extremely significant, almost on a par with the Beijing breakthrough. His “shuttle diplomacy” after the brief Yom Kippur war between Israel and Egypt, also in 1973, was a virtuoso performance (“if this is Tuesday, it must be Damascus”, the saying went) and re-established US diplomatic relations with Cairo, a necessary prelude to the Camp David accords with Israel negotiated by then-president Jimmy Carter.
Then there were the other messier parts of a world that the realist school, which Kissinger exemplified, tended first to see as mere pieces on the cold war chess board. He was very much behind the brutal military coup in Chile in 1973, brought about by his fears that the government of Salvador Allende was conniving to establish a Soviet beachhead in South America. Nor did he try to dissuade the Argentine junta from its ruthless crackdown on its opponents.
He occasionally urged Europe to pursue decolonisation but also thought Portugal would and should hold on to Angola and Mozambique as his pawns on the chessboard (they gained independence in the mid-1970s). Nor did he evince much interest in the growing sentiment in the US against the apartheid regime in South Africa. He favoured Pakistan over India in the Bangladesh liberation war of 1971 in spite of evidence from his own diplomats of genocide by Pakistani soldiers, a questionable judgment then and now. His general neglect of human rights amounted to a serious misreading of the importance of soft power.
Kissinger’s modus operandi has also come under increasing scrutiny. An inherent contradiction is that he craved publicity but preferred to conduct most of his diplomacy in secret — and not just diplomacy with other countries but the formulation of policy inside the US government. He ordered the home phones of 17 people to be tapped illegally (that is, without a judicial warrant). They include not only journalists but also members of his own National Security Council staff. Kissinger had a true cynic’s view about the use and abuse of power, once joking: “The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer.” A later interview he gave to Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci, in which he described himself proudly as a “cowboy”, infuriated Nixon, who reportedly did not speak to him for weeks.
The relationship between the two men is critical to an understanding of Kissinger’s successes and failures. Nixon was no innocent in foreign policy; he had been Dwight Eisenhower’s vice-president for eight years. The new president had ideas, but he had never found the man to articulate and implement them until he latched on to Kissinger. That, too, was a surprise. To the extent that the Harvard academic had shown any interest in domestic politics, his lodestar was Nelson Rockefeller, the liberal governor of New York, whom Nixon had defeated for the Republican nomination in 1968. Kissinger had also acquired something of a reputation in gossipy academia of changing his allegiances and saying different things to different people. “I wonder who’s Kissinger now” was a tag that stuck.
The basis for this odd symmetry was that Kissinger admired power, which Nixon had, and Nixon admired intellect, Kissinger’s strength, provided he could share in the glory. Kissinger himself once observed: “Power is a great aphrodisiac”. The historian David Rothkopf, seeing them both as “just as calculating, just as relentlessly ambitious”, portrayed “two self-made men driven as much by their need for approval and their neuroses as by their strengths”. Their meeting of minds meant that they took note of the Sino-Soviet split before most members of the state department and US academics had grasped its potential significance. They realised it could be exploited to America’s advantage. If Washington made friends in China, there was a chance the Soviet Union might become more accommodating on arms control and Berlin, as indeed it did. That was not an easy case to put at the time. Some US politicians, Democrats and Republicans, thought the administration was too soft with Moscow and criticised Kissinger for continuing to talk about detente while Soviet military power seemed to be steadily increasing. They distrusted his concept of “linkage”, whereby what happened in one part of the world might be tied to what happened elsewhere. Kissinger was none too popular among the leftish intelligentsia either, for it had taken several bloody years to get out of Vietnam, including the bombing of Cambodia, which itself may be regarded as a war crime.
Yet in the end it was not foreign policy that brought Kissinger down. It was Watergate. Kissinger, as previously noted, was not innocent of wire tapping; Nixon’s commitment to it was total, leading to the president’s resignation before an almost inevitable impeachment. Kissinger stayed on as secretary of state under Ford, who succeeded Nixon, but when Ford lost the election to Carter in 1976, the mood had changed. Carter wanted a moral foreign policy and new advisers.
Heinz (as he was originally called) Alfred Kissinger, the son of a school teacher, was born in the Bavarian town of Fürth on 27 May 1923. It was a place historically hospitable to Jews but not so under Adolf Hitler’s regime in the late 1930s. The family left for America, via London, in 1938, but Kissinger never lost his heavy German accent. His brother was once asked why, in contrast, he spoke like an American. “Because I’m the one who listens” was the tart response.
Kissinger was educated at George Washington High School in New York before moving to City College of New York. He became a naturalised American in 1943 and joined the US Army as a private. One of his first tasks at the end of the second world war was to assist in German reconstruction. He revisited Bavaria and was then assigned as administrator in the North Rhine-Westphalia town of Krefeld. He used the name Mr Henry, he said, because he did not want the Germans to think that the Jews were coming back to take their revenge. He drew heavily on his sense of German history and his belief that the Germans like order, though preferably peaceful.
He went to Harvard, where he could have spent the rest of his career, in 1947. His doctoral thesis in 1954 was subtitled “A Study in the Statesmanship of Castlereagh and Metternich”, a first blueprint for his career in government. His professorship at Harvard was enough to attract the attention of politicians such as Rockefeller. His 1957 book Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy raised his profile.
He remained a hugely recognisable figure around the world after he left government, not least because of his establishment in 1982 of Kissinger Associates, a consultancy which mostly advises US and other multinational companies. True to Kissinger form, its client list has never been officially released. Few government doors were closed to him anywhere. He consulted, or was consulted by, every president since Nixon, including Donald Trump, whom he sought, unavailingly, to educate if not influence. He also wrote newspaper opinion pieces, was in demand on the conference circuit and composed several books. The most admired, by common critical consensus, is Diplomacy, published in 1995, while the most recent co-authorship in 2021 is about the future of artificial intelligence, demonstrating an ability to keep up with the times. The most personal are the three volumes of memoir beginning with The White House Years, including accounts of his clandestine negotiations in China.
Kissinger was married twice, first in 1949 to Anne Fleischer. The couple had a son and a daughter but divorced in 1964. Ten years later he married Nancy Maginnes, the well-known New York philanthropist and socialite.
Throughout his life he had an endearing love of football that went back to his early days in Fürth. Even when he was involved in high-level negotiations, the results from Germany’s Bundesliga had to be telexed to him. At a café in São Paulo in the ‘70s, he persuaded Pelé, at the end of his playing career in Brazil, to turn out for the New York Cosmos. He was recruited to help the US bid to host the 2022 World Cup, but that failed.
There is no single epitaph to sum up his life and times. Realpolitik and protecting the national interest involve concessions and compromises, of which he had a fine understanding. They may also entail new, extraneous or unpredictable factors, such as human rights and climate change — not issues that bothered Castlereagh and Metternich, nor, until he had long left his positions of power, Henry Kissinger.
Word Count: 811 words
Vocabulary List:
Realpolitik (Noun): A pragmatic and realistic approach to politics, often focused on practical results rather than moral or ideological considerations.
Imponderable (Adjective): Difficult or impossible to estimate, assess, or understand.
Rapprochement (Noun): The reestablishment of cordial relations, especially between two countries.
Accolade (Noun): An award or privilege granted as a special honor or as an acknowledgment of merit.
Modus Operandi (Noun): A particular way or method of doing something, especially one that is characteristic or well-established.
Coup (Noun): A sudden, violent, and illegal seizure of power from a government.
Conniving (Adjective): Involving conspiracies or deceit; scheming.
Prelude (Noun): An action or event serving as an introduction to something more important.
Virtuoso (Noun): A person highly skilled in a particular art, especially music or the fine arts.
Decolonization (Noun): The action or process of a state withdrawing from a former colony, leaving it independent.
Apartheid (Noun): A policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race.
Genocide (Noun): The deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation.
Misreading (Noun): A failure to understand or interpret correctly.
Soft Power (Noun): The use of attraction and persuasion rather than coercion or force as a means of foreign policy.
Cynic (Noun): A person who believes that people are motivated purely by self-interest rather than acting for honorable or unselfish reasons.
Wiretap (Verb): To intercept and listen in on telephonic or electronic communications.
Unconstitutional (Adjective): Not in accordance with or authorized by a constitution.
Aphrodisiac (Noun): Something that arouses sexual desire.
Detente (Noun): The easing of hostility or strained relations, especially between countries.
Epitaph (Noun): A phrase or statement written in memory of a person who has died, especially as an inscription on a tombstone.
Reading Comprehension Questions:
A
What is the primary rhetorical effect of the phrase "if this is Tuesday, it must be Damascus"?
A) Irony
B) Hyperbole
C) Metaphor
D) Simile
Which of the following sentences contains an example of parallelism?
A) "Kissinger's diplomacy was complex and achieved results."
B) "He was known for both his intellect and his powerful connections."
C) "Realpolitik required a balance of power and consideration of all parties."
D) "The diplomatic landscape changed, and so did Kissinger's strategies."
In the phrase "a serious misreading of the importance of soft power," what figure of speech is used?
A) Irony
B) Alliteration
C) Metaphor
D) Litotes
What is the purpose of the oxymoron in the phrase "brutal military coup"?
A) To emphasize the severity of the event
B) To downplay the impact of the coup
C) To create a humorous effect
D) To express ambiguity
Which sentence contains an appositive providing additional information about Henry Kissinger?
A) "Realpolitik diplomacy was his preferred approach."
B) "His love for football influenced high-level negotiations."
C) "The Harvard academic, a key figure in geopolitics, had a significant impact."
D) "Kissinger's travels were meticulously followed around the world."
What is the rhetorical function of the question "I wonder who’s Kissinger now"?
A) Interrogation
B) Euphemism
C) Hypophora
D) Rhetorical
Which sentence uses euphemism to describe Kissinger's extensive diplomatic travels?
A) "His travels were a constant source of intrigue."
B) "The shuttle diplomacy was an arduous task."
C) "He navigated the global political landscape with finesse."
D) "Diplomatic journeys were an integral part of his routine."
In the phrase "realpolitik and protecting the national interest," what stylistic device is employed?
A) Irony
B) Alliteration
C) Onomatopoeia
D) Personification
Which sentence contains a rhetorical question inviting reflection rather than a direct answer?
A) "What were the consequences of Kissinger's decisions during the Bangladesh liberation war?"
B) "Did Kissinger prioritize human rights in his diplomatic endeavors?"
C) "Is this the most accurate portrayal of Kissinger's legacy?"
D) "How did Kissinger navigate the complexities of international relations?"
What is the significance of the analogy between Kissinger and Nixon's collaboration and a "meeting of minds"?
A) To emphasize their ideological differences
B) To underscore their shared intellectual pursuits
C) To highlight their disagreements on foreign policy
D) To suggest a lack of understanding between the two leaders
B
Identify and explain an instance of a metaphor used in the text.
Find and define an example of hyperbole in the article.
Locate a sentence that uses parallelism for rhetorical effect and explain its impact.
Identify an example of alliteration in the text and describe its effect.
Find and explain the use of an oxymoron in the article.
Identify a complex sentence in the text and explain how it contributes to the overall structure.
Locate an example of euphemism in the article and interpret its purpose.
Point out a sentence that uses an appositive and clarify its role in the sentence.
Identify and explain the use of a rhetorical question in the article.
Find an example of an analogy in the text and elaborate on its significance.
C
What was Henry Kissinger's view on realpolitik diplomacy?
During which period did Kissinger serve as the US national security adviser and secretary of state?
How did Kissinger's successful rapprochement with China contrast with his actions during the Vietnam War?
Why was Kissinger controversially awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973?
What were the significant achievements of Kissinger's nuclear arms control agreements with the Soviet Union?
Describe Kissinger's "shuttle diplomacy" and its impact on US diplomatic relations.
In what ways did Kissinger involve himself in the political affairs of Chile and Argentina?
How did Kissinger handle the issue of decolonization in Portugal's African colonies?
Discuss Kissinger's stance on the apartheid regime in South Africa.
Why did Kissinger favor Pakistan over India in the Bangladesh liberation war, and what were the consequences of this decision?
What contradiction is highlighted in Kissinger's modus operandi?
How did the relationship between Kissinger and Nixon contribute to their successes in foreign policy?
What role did Kissinger play in recognizing the Sino-Soviet split?
What events led to Kissinger's resignation as secretary of state?
How did Kissinger's early life, including his escape from Nazi Germany, influence his approach to diplomacy?
What notable contributions did Kissinger make after leaving government service?
How did Kissinger demonstrate his enduring love for football?
What consultancy did Kissinger establish in 1982, and what was its significance?
Who were Kissinger's two wives, and what do we know about his family life?
In what ways did Kissinger stay engaged with global issues, including his involvement in the bid for the 2022 World Cup?
Answers
A
B) Hyperbole - The phrase exaggerates the frequency of Kissinger's travels, making it an example of hyperbole for effect.
C) "Realpolitik required a balance of power and consideration of all parties." - This sentence exhibits parallelism by presenting two related ideas in a balanced and rhythmic structure.
C) Metaphor - The phrase compares soft power to a chessboard, using metaphor to convey the idea that Kissinger saw the world as pieces on a geopolitical chessboard.
A) To emphasize the severity of the event - The oxymoron "brutal military coup" is used to highlight the extreme and harsh nature of the military coup.
C) "The Harvard academic, a key figure in geopolitics, had a significant impact." - This sentence uses an appositive ("a key figure in geopolitics") to provide additional information about Henry Kissinger.
D) Rhetorical - The question "I wonder who’s Kissinger now" is rhetorical, as it prompts thought rather than expecting a direct answer.
C) "He navigated the global political landscape with finesse." - This sentence uses euphemism ("navigated") to describe Kissinger's diplomatic activities in a positive and skillful manner.
B) Alliteration - The phrase "realpolitik and protecting the national interest" uses alliteration on the "p" sound, creating a pleasing sound and emphasizing the interconnected concepts.
C) "Is this the most accurate portrayal of Kissinger's legacy?" - This question is rhetorical, inviting reflection on the accuracy of the portrayal rather than seeking a direct answer.
B) To underscore their shared intellectual pursuits - The analogy suggests a harmonious intellectual connection between Kissinger and Nixon, emphasizing their shared understanding and pursuit of common goals.
B
Identify and explain an instance of a metaphor used in the text.
Answer: A metaphor can be found in the phrase "pieces on the cold war chess board," where the geopolitical elements are likened to chess pieces, emphasizing strategic maneuvering.
Find and define an example of hyperbole in the article.
Answer: An example of hyperbole is found in "if this is Tuesday, it must be Damascus," exaggerating the frequency of Kissinger's diplomatic travels for effect.
Locate a sentence that uses parallelism for rhetorical effect and explain its impact.
Answer: The sentence "He consulted, or was consulted by, every president since Nixon" uses parallelism to create a balanced and rhythmic structure, enhancing readability and emphasis.
Identify an example of alliteration in the text and describe its effect.
Answer: The phrase "realpolitik and protecting the national interest" uses alliteration on the "p" sound, creating a pleasing sound and emphasizing the interconnected concepts.
Find and explain the use of an oxymoron in the article.
Answer: The phrase "brutal military coup" contains an oxymoron, combining contradictory terms for emphasis and to highlight the severity of the event.
Identify a complex sentence in the text and explain how it contributes to the overall structure.
Answer: The sentence "Kissinger, as previously noted, was not innocent of wiretapping; Nixon’s commitment to it was total" is a complex sentence that provides additional information, enhancing the reader's understanding.
Locate an example of euphemism in the article and interpret its purpose.
Answer: The phrase "shuttle diplomacy" serves as a euphemism for Kissinger's diplomatic travels, presenting it in a positive and efficient light.
Point out a sentence that uses an appositive and clarify its role in the sentence.
Answer: The sentence "Kissinger, the US national security adviser and secretary of state who has died at 100, was able to put into practice what he had preached" uses an appositive to provide additional information about Kissinger.
Identify and explain the use of a rhetorical question in the article.
Answer: The question "I wonder who’s Kissinger now" is a rhetorical question that prompts thought rather than expecting a direct answer, engaging the reader in reflection.
Find an example of an analogy in the text and elaborate on its significance.
Answer: The analogy between Kissinger and Nixon's collaboration and a meeting of minds is evident in the phrase "their meeting of minds meant that they took note of the Sino-Soviet split," highlighting the synergy between them.
C
What was Henry Kissinger's view on realpolitik diplomacy?
Answer: Kissinger believed in realpolitik diplomacy, emphasizing a pragmatic and realistic approach to politics, focusing on practical results rather than moral or ideological considerations.
During which period did Kissinger serve as the US national security adviser and secretary of state?
Answer: Henry Kissinger served as the US national security adviser and secretary of state under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford from 1969 to 1977.
How did Kissinger's successful rapprochement with China contrast with his actions during the Vietnam War?
Answer: Kissinger's successful rapprochement with China contrasted with his secret bombing of Cambodia during the Vietnam War, showcasing a complex approach to international relations.
Why was Kissinger controversially awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973?
Answer: Kissinger was controversially awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973 for his role in the Vietnam War peace talks, although hostilities did not end until 1975.
What were the significant achievements of Kissinger's nuclear arms control agreements with the Soviet Union?
Answer: Kissinger's nuclear arms control agreements with the Soviet Union were significant in reducing the nuclear arms race and improving relations between the two superpowers.
Describe Kissinger's "shuttle diplomacy" and its impact on US diplomatic relations.
Answer: Kissinger's "shuttle diplomacy" involved traveling between nations to negotiate agreements. His efforts after the Yom Kippur war improved relations, notably re-establishing diplomatic ties with Cairo.
In what ways did Kissinger involve himself in the political affairs of Chile and Argentina?
Answer: Kissinger played a role in the military coup in Chile in 1973 and did not dissuade the Argentine junta from its brutal crackdown on opponents, reflecting his realist approach.
How did Kissinger handle the issue of decolonization in Portugal's African colonies?
Answer: Kissinger urged Europe to pursue decolonization, but he believed Portugal should hold on to Angola and Mozambique, showing a pragmatic stance on colonial issues.
Discuss Kissinger's stance on the apartheid regime in South Africa.
Answer: Kissinger showed little interest in the growing sentiment against the apartheid regime in South Africa, reflecting a neglect of human rights issues.
Why did Kissinger favor Pakistan over India in the Bangladesh liberation war, and what were the consequences of this decision?
Answer: Kissinger favored Pakistan due to geopolitical considerations, but his stance ignored evidence of genocide. The decision had questionable consequences and implications.
What contradiction is highlighted in Kissinger's modus operandi?
Answer: The contradiction in Kissinger's modus operandi is that he craved publicity but preferred to conduct most of his diplomacy in secret, showcasing an inherent tension in his approach.
How did the relationship between Kissinger and Nixon contribute to their successes in foreign policy?
Answer: Nixon admired Kissinger's intellect, while Kissinger admired Nixon's power. Their collaboration allowed them to implement successful foreign policy strategies, including exploiting the Sino-Soviet split.
What role did Kissinger play in recognizing the Sino-Soviet split?
Answer: Kissinger and Nixon recognized the Sino-Soviet split before many others, allowing them to exploit the situation for America's advantage in diplomacy.
What events led to Kissinger's resignation as secretary of state?
Answer: Kissinger's resignation was not due to foreign policy but was a consequence of the Watergate scandal, which involved illegal wiretapping. Nixon's resignation preceded an inevitable impeachment.
How did Kissinger's early life, including his escape from Nazi Germany, influence his approach to diplomacy?
Answer: Kissinger's early life, escaping Nazi Germany, shaped his pragmatic approach, drawing on his sense of history and belief in order, especially in dealing with German reconstruction.
What notable contributions did Kissinger make after leaving government service?
Answer: After leaving government, Kissinger established Kissinger Associates, a consultancy, and remained a prominent figure, advising presidents, writing, and engaging in global issues.
How did Kissinger demonstrate his enduring love for football?
Answer: Kissinger's love for football was evident throughout his life, even influencing high-level negotiations. He persuaded Pelé to play for the New York Cosmos and was involved in the bid for the 2022 World Cup.
What consultancy did Kissinger establish in 1982, and what was its significance?
Answer: In 1982, Kissinger established Kissinger Associates, a consultancy advising multinational companies. Its client list, however, has never been officially released.
Who were Kissinger's two wives, and what do we know about his family life?
Answer: Kissinger was married twice. His first wife was Anne Fleischer (married in 1949, divorced in 1964), and his second wife was Nancy Maginnes (married in 1974). He had a son and a daughter from his first marriage.
In what ways did Kissinger stay engaged with global issues, including his involvement in the bid for the 2022 World Cup?
Answer: Kissinger remained engaged with global issues through consultancy, writing, and advising presidents. He was recruited to help the US bid for the 2022 World Cup, although it ultimately failed.
