2023-05-28 15:39:32
A hundred years ago, a Jewish family in Germany had a child, and as soon as he reached the age of fifteen, specifically in 1938, the entire family fled to the United States for fear of Nazi practices, so that the teenager began a new chapter in his life and became one of the most important diplomats in the United States.
Henry Alfred Kissinger became an American citizen five years following his arrival in the United States, and following decades of diplomatic work, history does not stop chasing Kissinger, following a pivotal role in shaping American foreign policy around the world.
Kissinger’s life was fertile material for historians, analysts, writers, and psychological studies, and he won praises that culminated in the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973 for his efforts to cease fire in Vietnam, but there are those who consider him responsible for the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives.
Born in Germany on May 27, 1923, his books and politics became a reference for diplomats in the United States, and he left an impact on most of those who held official positions in the US State Department for many years, whether through his teaching at Harvard University or through his deeply rooted ideas and policies to date.
Kissinger lived through decades of wars, fluctuations, and changes in regimes, states’ policies, and their maps as well, and he may have a role in most of these crises, whether directly or through his legacy, which despite the disagreement over the final opinion regarding it, but its influence remains great.
Stick to his decisions
Kissinger recently conducted an interview with the American “CBS” network, and when the broadcaster asked him regarding his reaction to many questions from some regarding the “legitimacy” of conducting such an interview, Kissinger replied, “It reflects their ignorance.”
And when he touched on the bombing of Cambodia during the rule of former President Richard Nixon, Kissinger said: “We bombed with marches and all kinds of weapons all the organizations that we oppose and pursue the guerrilla warfare system,” referring to the US administrations that followed him.
The veteran diplomat continued: “This meeting now is regarding turning 100. You pick a topic from 60 years ago. You have to realize that was a necessary step.”
Kissinger served in the army and joined Harvard University, taught there, then assumed the position of the US government’s foreign policy advisor, and in 1969, President Nixon appointed him as a national security adviser, to plan two unparalleled visits to China and the Soviet Union in 1972.
Washington tried to defuse tensions with the two communist countries. The following year, Kissinger became the first American born outside the United States to hold the position of Secretary of State, and he continued in the position even following Nixon’s resignation and the advent of Gerald Ford.
Throughout his career, he has been writing and lecturing on foreign affairs, and although he has not held any government position for nearly 25 years, he has continued to be able to stir up controversy with his words, the latest of which was his talk regarding the Ukraine crisis and the need to give it lands to Russia in order to stop the war, before he backed down. regarding his talk.
Kissinger’s legacy
The diplomat and academic left an endless debate regarding success, failure, or even the moral aspect of his legacy in American diplomacy.
Muhammad al-Minshawi, a researcher in American affairs, says that Kissinger is a unique figure in American history, and he dominated the making of the country’s foreign policy for a long time, adding that his attainment of this influence and official and academic positions in light of his German accent, which he did not get rid of, is “a miracle by American standards.”
He added, in his interview with Al-Hurra, that there is no one who has not been affected by him in American foreign policy, adding, “There is no one who has not been affected by him,” referring to the presidents and foreign ministers over recent decades in the United States.
Hillary Clinton is one of the most prominent US secretaries of state close to Kissinger, and she has always confirmed that she communicated with him continuously during her tenure and that he provided her with notes on world leaders and leaders.
During her candidacy for the elections she lost once morest former US President Donald Trump in 2016, she explained that she was very happy when Kissinger told her that she was the best secretary of state who had held the position in many years.
Kissinger restored relations with China in the 1970s following a secret visit in 1971 paved the way for another historic one for President Nixon the following year. Global”.
He also played a major role in the agreement of the United States and the Soviet Union to slow down the nuclear arms race, reduce conflicts, and avoid the outbreak of a nuclear war. Washington was also able, with his policies, to take the decision to withdraw from Vietnam, in which it suffered heavy losses, in an indirect conflict with Moscow at the time.
But the American analyst, Irina Zuckerman, believes in her interview with Al-Hurra that Kissinger’s policies were destructive and caused crises in the long run.
She said that Kissinger’s diplomacy on China and Russia and his trust in the two countries did not lead to resolving disputes, ending fears regarding them, establishing a state of law and protecting human rights.
She added that his policy with the two countries was “more destructive than constructive, and caused the rise of China without containing or diminishing its dominant ideology or its arbitrary treatment of its citizens … His diplomacy was short-term and did not address the problems, but only concealed them, and caused more tensions that we see today.”
She also made it clear that this happened with Russia as well, as getting close to it and appeasing it did not produce results, as it represented a threat and invaded Ukraine last year.
“No to ideals”
In his policies, Kissinger used the power of the United States and its ability to achieve what he considers a balance, and overlooked other matters such as human rights and idealism in dealing with crises, which made some consider him responsible for incidents such as the bombing of Cambodia and support for authoritarian regimes, which over the years resulted in thousands of deaths.
Indeed, he faced strong criticism from the progressive left in the United States, led by Bernie Sanders.
Sanders was highly critical of Hillary Clinton’s pride in her close relationship with Kissinger, saying the latter was “among the most destructive secretaries of state in the modern history of this country.”
He continued, “Proud that Henry Kissinger is not my friend. I will not get advice from him,” referring to his involvement in the bombing of Cambodia, which some consider as genocide.
Al-Minshawi said that Kissinger had always sought to achieve the American interest, but in an “extreme realism” manner, and established a school of foreign policy that does not care regarding ideals.
New Kissinger?
Kissinger can be considered the architect of the peace process between Egypt and Israel that ended the war between them and was the first final silencing of an Arab front fighting the Hebrew state, and contributed to the complete transformation of Egypt from the Soviet embrace to the American side, through his extensive contacts with the late Egyptian President Muhammad Anwar Sadat.
Al-Minshawi said that Kissinger “contributed greatly to what we are witnessing today and made the seed for Arab-Israeli relations, as he was the cradle of Sadat’s visit to Israel.”
He explained that at the present time the US administration needs someone like Kissinger to end many of the ongoing conflicts. “They do not realize the complexities and seriousness of what is happening and the speed of development of events. It is easy to start a war, but it is difficult to end one.”
While Zuckerman described Kissinger’s legacy as “greatly wrong, and contributed to the current wave of tensions,” he continued, “We want diplomats with a different vision who can work in a pragmatic way, and understand the security, humanitarian and economic implications of appeasing, dealing with, or tolerating totalitarian or separatist regimes or actors that do not obey a government.” in particular.”
While Al-Minshawi ended his speech by saying that Kissinger’s most important success was ending the Vietnam War, he realized at that time “that America is defeated and must leave.”
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