Once the war and Kissinger's studies were over, he began his political career, advising Kennedy and Johnson on foreign policy. Under Nixon and Ford, Kissinger worked full time as the National Security Advisor, and then as Secretary of State.
One of the most important challenges that Kissinger faced in is career was ending the Vietnam war, which the US was losing, with favorable terms for the US. To accomplish this, Kissinger recommended a redoubling of bombing efforts coupled with a slow withdrawal of troops. The "peace with honor" strategy cost both sides thousands of lives and lengthened the war by four years. Kissinger also ran a secret bombing campaign in Cambodia that destabilized the region, allowing the genocidal Khmer Rouge to take power.
Kissinger was given the Nobel Peace prize in 1973, but he is also remembered by critics for helping (sometimes unintentionally) military dictatorships, such as in Cambodia, Indonesia and Latin America.
In an interview with der Spiegel, a German newspaper, Kissinger made it clear that he supports the theory that politics is local. He blames the west for the escalation of the Ukraine crisis, and believes that Putin is trying to achieve progress in Russia, trying to "westernize" in a way. In effect, Kissinger believes that the west ought to ignore the Ukraine crisis, and trust that Putin is not trying to increase Russia's sphere of influence. This modern position of his supports that Kissinger is not unkind to dictators.
It is clear that not all of Kissinger's actions produced favorable outcomes, but that his intentions were generally aligned with the interests of the US.
Sources:
Biography.com
wsj.com
spiegel.de
I like how you bring up Kissinger's critics rather than just blindly praising his accomplishments. It's interesting how Kissinger at first went from advocating a "victorious peace" to supporting a "honorable peace." It becomes pretty obvious that Kissinger realizes that America can't always come out of a war a superhero. However, was it worth thousands of lives to achieve a "peace with honor"?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.americanforeignrelations.com/O-W/The-Vietnam-War-and-Its-Impact-Nixon-s-peace-with-honor.html
I like how you bring up Kissinger's critics rather than just blindly praising his accomplishments. It's interesting how Kissinger at first went from advocating a "victorious peace" to supporting a "honorable peace." It becomes pretty obvious that Kissinger realizes that America can't always come out of a war a superhero. However, was it worth thousands of lives to achieve a "peace with honor"?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.americanforeignrelations.com/O-W/The-Vietnam-War-and-Its-Impact-Nixon-s-peace-with-honor.html
We always hear about the genocides caused by the Nazi's but its cool to hear about a specific person's life trying to escape. I like the new perspective. He died at the old age of 92, so what do you think if he somehow stayed alive this whole time he would say about America now?
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Kissinger