.png)
Former U.S. Secretary of State (1973-1977) and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Henry A. Kissinger passed away on 29-Nov-2023 at the age of 100. Regarded as one of the greatest diplomats of all time, this advocate of realpolitik and conservative intellectual remains a controversial figure for his role in some of the darkest chapters of the Cold War.
Deadly Bombings in Cambodia, Covert Role in the Overthrow of Democratically Elected Salvador Allende's Government in Chile in 1973, Blank Check for the Brutal Indonesian Invasion of East Timor, Support for Operation Condor, a vast campaign of assassinations of opponents in six military dictatorships in Latin America in 1975... Henry Kissinger has regularly been labeled a "war criminal" by his most vehement critics, yet he has lost little, if any, of his aura as a virtuoso of international relations.
An American Dream
Heinz Alfred Kissinger was born in Germany into a Jewish family of the Bavarian bourgeoisie in 1923. In 1938, he fled Nazi persecution with his parents to join New York. Naturalized as an American, he joined military counterintelligence, where his mastery of German and knowledge of the terrain proved valuable during World War II and the subsequent denazification period.
Upon returning to the United States, he pursued studies at Harvard. It was during this crucial period that he developed his vision of international relations inspired by the Austrian diplomat Metternich and the "European order" of the first half of the 19th century. Organized by the powers that defeated Napoleon, it aimed to eradicate the legacy of the French Revolution.
To maintain world order amid the confrontation between East and West, Henry Kissinger, distrustful of grand ideologies, advocated instead for a pragmatic foreign policy—critics would call it cynical—aimed at a balance of power centered around Washington, Moscow, and Beijing.
Becoming a professor in the Government Department at Harvard, Henry Kissinger made a name for himself after the 1957 publication of "Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy," a treatise on the use of nuclear weapons in which he anticipated the doctrine of graduated response.
A man of action and intellect, Dr. K began to be consulted by Republican officials during the presidencies of Dwight Eisenhower and John Fitzgerald Kennedy, particularly during the second Berlin crisis marked by the construction of the wall in 1961.
Close to Nelson Rockefeller, the Governor of New York, Henry Kissinger supported him against Richard Nixon in the 1968 Republican primaries. During the campaign, he proposed a plan for the American withdrawal from Vietnam. The initiative would ultimately be adopted by Nixon once elected, who appointed Kissinger as Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Executive Secretary of the National Security Council.
While William Rogers was the Secretary of State at the time, it was Henry Kissinger who led Washington's foreign policy. He had to wait until President Nixon's second term in 1973 to officially assume the role, thereby becoming the first foreign-born U.S. Secretary of State.
The Superpowers of "Super K"
By the end of Richard Nixon's first term, Henry Kissinger was constructing his myth as an all-powerful and tireless diplomat. In the early 1970s, he engaged in secret negotiations in Beijing and Moscow. In 1972, he notably contributed to the signing of the SALT I treaty, which limited the deployment of strategic weapons by the United States and the USSR.
The following year, the signing of the Paris Agreement on Vietnam earned him the Nobel Peace Prize, which remains one of the most controversial in history. Many human rights advocates and historians accuse him of unnecessarily prolonging the conflict and expanding it to Cambodia and Laos through massive and illegal bombing campaigns against Viet Cong positions.
After the Yom Kippur War in October 1973, he spent over a month in the Middle East seeking a resolution between Israel and the Arab coalition led by Egypt and Syria. He then initiated "shuttle diplomacy," holding numerous meetings with opposing parties to secure a compromise.
In January 1974, a preliminary agreement decided on the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Suez Canal, replaced by UN forces. Then, in May, Israel agreed to return the territory seized during the October 1973 conflict but retained control of the Golan Heights.
Exceptional Longevity
In 1977, the election of Democrat Jimmy Carter led Henry Kissinger to step away from direct power, but he never kept a significant distance. Instead, he played the role of a gray eminence within the White House, remaining an influential figure in Washington associated with various political groups and commissions.
As a brilliant chronicler, "Doctor K" authored numerous works inspired by his experience in the U.S. government, distilling geopolitical lessons. In 1982, he also ventured into consulting for major private firms through the establishment of Kissinger Associates, a move that contributed to his considerable wealth.
Away from the spotlight, Henry Kissinger was, however, confronted by his dark legacy around the turn of the 2000s. While in France, the former diplomat, then 78 years old, was summoned in May 2001 as a witness by Judge Roger Le Loire in the context of an investigation into "crimes against humanity," "genocide," and "kidnapping" related to Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. The proceedings were initiated in France following complaints from several families of Franco-Chileans who disappeared in the 1970s.
In recent years, the man who never completely shed his German accent regularly shared his views on the major crises affecting the world during conferences and interviews. In 2014, following the annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbass, Henry Kissinger advocated for Kiev's neutrality towards Russia. He changed his stance during the Russian invasion in 2022, supporting military aid to Ukraine. In a lengthy 8-hour interview with The Economist in May 2023, the former diplomat argued that "there was no other option but to bring Ukraine into NATO, to take Europe out of insecurity."