By Dr.Santhosh Mathew 12 August 2023
There is a saying by Francis Bacon, “Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read.”Suppose there is a man to whom you can relate to this quote. In that case, it’s none other than Henry Alfred Kissinger-The centenarian who remains a controversial and polarizing figure in American politics, revered by some as a highly powerful US secretary of state and condemned by others for allegedly condoning or supporting war crimes committed by allied nations during his tenure. Donald Trump’s meeting with Kissinger just after winning the presidential election in 2017 to discuss national security matters and his unofficial visit to China to meet a top Chinese diplomat and Defense minister indicates his activeness in the diplomatic sphere despite his age.
Kissinger was born in a Jewish family in 1923, at Fürth, in the region of Bavaria in Germany. Fearing the Holocaust, his family took shelter in London in 1938, reached America in 1943, and acquired American citizenship in the same year. He served in the US Army during world war two and in the postwar US military government of Germany. After leaving the service, he received a B.A. (1950) and Ph.D. (1954) from Harvard University.
In 1951, while pursuing graduate studies, Kissinger worked as a consultant with the Army’s Operations Research Office, where he became familiar with the Defense Department’s penchant for psychological warfare. He wanted to mold his academic career, and for that, in 1952, at the age of 28, he started a magazine and picked an imposing name for that-‘Confluence’ and enlisted illustrious contributors like Hannah Ardent, Raymond Aaron, Lillian Smith, and Reinhold Niebuhr.
Harvard offered Kissinger a different junior professorship than he had hoped for. Still, the dean of the faculty, McGeorge Bundy, recommended him to the Council on Foreign Relations, where Kissinger started managing a study group on nuclear weapons. In Eisenhower-era Washington, a fresh take on nuclear weapons could make your name. In 1957, Kissinger published the book that established him as a public figure, “Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy.”
In 1961, Mac Bundy, President John F Kennedy’s National Security Advisor, hired Kissinger as a consultant. Finally, he got tenure at Harvard too. He even worked as the foreign policy advisor of Rockefeller, who was the rival candidate of Richard Nixon in the presidential candidate nomination in the Republican party. Later when Nixon got the ticket to contest for the post of president, Kissinger expressed his willingness to work for him. Nixon identified Kissinger’s potential and practical wisdom, and after becoming the President in 1969, he appointed Kissinger as his National Security Advisor.
In 1967 Kissinger came up with a proposal to sign an armistice with North Vietnam after agreeing to pull US troops back from South Vietnam. After neglecting South Vietnam’s objections, On January 27, 1973, Kissinger and Le DucTho signed a peace agreement that called for the complete withdrawal of US forces from Vietnam in exchange for North Vietnam freeing all the Prisoners. He was jointly awarded the 1973 Nobel peace prize with Le Duc Tho. But Tho rejected the award by saying his opposite number violated the truce. Further controversy arose when two selection committee members resigned in protest against the award. Infuriated by these acts, Kissinger donated the prize money to charity and didn’t attend the ceremony.
Kissinger also played a vital role in rapprochement with China with the help of their ally Pakistan. He visited China in 1971 to confer with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. China became a permanent member of the UN security council, and the visits by Kissinger paved the way for the groundbreaking 1972 summit between Nixon, Zhou, and Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong, as well as the formalization of relations between the two countries, ending 23 years of diplomatic isolation and mutual hostility.
A practitioner of realpolitik, Kissinger pioneered the policy of détente with the Soviet Union. Kissinger’s role in the petrodollar agreement with Saudi Arabia is also significant. The dollar value was tied to the value of Gold after the Bretton woods agreement, which stated that the US should not print more currency than the value of the gold they possessed, which was 80% of the total gold available at that time. But they breached the agreement and printed more currency for the unforeseen expenses from the Vietnam War. All the countries with dollars in their foreign currency reserves went on to substitute the dollar with gold from the US. To combat these challenges, Nixon developed a petrodollar agreement by which Saudi Arabia would only sell petroleum in US dollars to all countries in return for the US military aid. That even strengthened the image of the dollar as a world currency.
Facing certain impeachment and removal from office, Due to the controversial Watergate Scandal that included a break-in at Democratic National Committee headquarters on June 17, 1972, and subsequent cover-up by people who worked for or with the White House, Nixon resigned from the presidency. Kissinger continued as secretary of state under the successor of Nixon to the office- Gerald Ford.
After he resigned from office in 1977, when Jimmy Carter defeated Ford to become the president, He was offered an endowed chair at Columbia University. But due to protests by students university cancelled his appointment. Kissinger was appointed to Georgetown University‘s Center for Strategic and International Studies. He went on to publish books, including his works as NSA and secretary of state, which became a model for administrators. In international studies, his books like “White Home Years” (1979), “Diplomacy (1999), Diplomacy on China (2011), World Orders (2014), and Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy(2022) exist even today as reference books.
Kissinger met Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi on July 19, a day after he held talks with China’s defense minister Li Shangfu who we sanctioned for Chinese purchase of Russian weapons. His unofficial visit came after the visit of National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in May, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s two-day visit highlighted the reality of the vast and dangerous gulf between the two powers.
Kissinger and the US administration came up with the statement that it was an unofficial visit. Kissinger is considered a revered figure in China who helped them normalize ties with the US in 1971, leading to cooperation and China’s overall growth as a great power.
Unlike the situation back a few decades ago US-China relations are spiraling downwards after then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. In addition to rising tensions over Taiwan, the United States and China are embroiled in disputes over tariffs, access to technology, and human rights.
American administration denied their involvement, but he is getting opportunities to meet top officials who are not ready to meet American diplomats or secretaries. US-China relations can only be improved through talks. President Xi discussed the challenges and opportunities of the US -China relationship Kissinger showed his positive approach to right the distress caused in the US-China relationship. Only time can reveal that he could revive the trust and cooperation that came into existence because of his excellence in diplomacy. Even at the age of 100, Kissinger is showing his class and trying to unlock new levels of diplomacy. He will remain an inspiration for diplomats in all generations to come.