Kissinger’s imprint on US foreign policy

(Dan Tri) – Mr. Henry Kissinger, who passed away on November 29, is considered by many to be one of the most influential figures in international relations of the 20th century. But his career also faced many criticisms.

Mr. Henry Kissinger passed away on November 29 at his home in the US (Photo: Reuters).

Mr. Henry Kissinger passed away at the age of 100 at his home in Connecticut, the consulting company named after Mr. Kissinger Associates announced in a statement late on November 29.

The statement did not state the cause of his death.

Since the late 1960s, Kissinger played an important role in shaping US foreign policy and responding to the complex dynamics of the Cold War.

Not only did he contribute as a thinker and scholar, he also left a significant impact through his position as Secretary of State and National Security Advisor for two US Presidents, Mr. Richard Nixon and Mr. Gerald Ford.

Although recognized as an influential person, Mr. Kissinger has a career that has caused a lot of controversy, even within the United States.

Realistic politics

In an article on the Conversation, three scholars André Carvalho, Anurag Mishra and Zeno Leoni commented that Mr. Kissinger’s greatest contribution to US foreign policy was his support for the policy of `realpolitik`.

Mr. Kissinger believes that America should make foreign policy decisions based on a clear and systematic assessment of the balance of power.

For the United States, `realpolitik` also means that it should actively cooperate with other powers to deter any country that could threaten American dominance.

This approach shaped the way the former US Secretary of State handled major events during the Cold War, such as the normalization of relations with China or the détente with the Soviet Union in the early 1970s. This perspective

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Henry Kissinger, former US Secretary of State, met at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing, China on July 20 (Photo: China Daily).

Nothing shows the American diplomat’s actual thoughts more clearly than his own words in the book `Diplomacy` published in 1994, according to Foreign Policy writer Michael Hirsh.

`(In the next century) America will need partners to maintain balance in several regions of the world, and these partners cannot be chosen solely based on moral considerations,`

Mr. Hirsh pointed out that at the end of his life, Mr. Kissinger expressed concern about the possibility of Washington taking a confrontational approach to both China and Russia on an ideological basis, thereby risking self-isolation and

In 2018, Mr. Kissinger, then 95 years old, is said to have advised President Donald Trump to try to get closer to Russia to deal with China.

Criticism

Mr. Kissinger’s career has also faced many criticisms.

Under President Nixon, Mr. Kissinger supported bombing campaigns in Cambodia, unintentionally leading to the rise of the Khmer Rouge.

He supported the US war in Vietnam even though as early as 1965, after a visit here, he concluded that the war was hopeless, according to Barry Gewen, a scholar who wrote a book about the American diplomat.

US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin met on a helicopter, January 25, 1974 (Photo: US Department of State).

That’s why Mr. Kissinger started the process of peace and nuclear arms control with the Soviet Union.

According to AFP, declassified documents show that Mr. Kissinger expressed support for General Augusto Pinochet’s coup in Chile in 1973.

Some of the harshest critics, such as the late author Christopher Hitchens, have accused Mr. Kissinger of ignoring international law and violating the sovereignty of many countries.

In the last years of his life, Mr. Kissinger was still trying to understand the world.

In a series of articles that culminated in The Age of AI, the 2021 book he co-authored with former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Daniel Huttenlocher, head of the computer science department at the Institute

His worry lies in the fact that the notion of human reason as superior – an ideology that has played a dominant role from the Enlightenment period in Europe until now – may be being overthrown because of the rise of intelligence.

In a 2018 essay in the Atlantic, Mr. Kissinger said that too many decisions today `rely on machines powered by data and algorithms and not governed by ethical or philosophical standards.`