The former head of North American diplomacy died Wednesday at the age of 100 “at his home in Connecticut,” his consultancy firm announced in a statement.
In a sign of the charisma and influence of the former ruler who guided the foreign policy of Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, this small man with a deep voice and a strong German accent, despite his advanced age, was recently named by the consulted the entire political class. and received by heads of state or invited to conferences all over the world.
The most recent example was his visit to Beijing in July to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, who praised him as a “legendary diplomat” for being responsible for bringing China and the United States closer together in the decade since 1970 .
No one left a greater mark on North American foreign policy in the second half of the twentieth century. They were praised for their negotiating skills and managed to be both sensitive and authoritarian.
At once pragmatic and initiator of North American “Realpolitik”, described as a true “hawk”, Henry Kissinger is one of those complex characters who arouse admiration or hatred.
Nazism had a profound influence on the young German Jew Heinz Alfred Kissinger, born on May 27, 1923 in Fürth, Bavaria, southern Germany. At the age of 15, he took refuge in the United States with his family. This son of a teacher became a naturalized American citizen at the age of 20, joined the military counterintelligence and the U.S. Army and went to Europe as a German interpreter.
After World War II, eager to return to his studies, he enrolled at Harvard, majoring in international relations, before teaching there and becoming one of its directors. It was at this time that Democratic Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson began regularly consulting this brilliant and ambitious professor.
But the man in the thick-rimmed glasses established himself as the face of world diplomacy when Republican Richard Nixon called him to the White House in 1969, as national security adviser and then secretary of state. He served in both positions from 1973 to 1975 and remained at the State Department under Gerald Ford until 1977.
It was then that North American “Realpolitik” began, which began to reduce tensions with the Soviet Union and thaw relations with Mao Zedong’s China, during secret trips to organize Nixon’s historic visit to Beijing in 1972 .
Kissinger also led negotiations with Le Duc Tho to end the war in Vietnam, also in great secrecy. Signing a ceasefire even earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973, together with the North Vietnamese. But Le Duc Tho declined the prize, one of the most controversial prizes in the history of the Nobel Prize.
Kissinger’s opponents have long called for him to be tried for war crimes, denouncing his involvement in cases such as the massive bombings in Cambodia and his support for former Indonesian President Suharto, whose invasion of East Timor by Indonesian forces killed 200,000 people in 1975.
But it was primarily the CIA’s role in Latin America, often at its direct instigation, that tarnished its image, beginning with the 1973 coup in Chile that brought Augusto Pinochet to power after the death of Salvador Allende .
Over the years, the archives have revealed the contours and scope of the ‘Condor Plan’ to eliminate opponents of the South American dictatorships of the 1970s and 1980s.
Despite these episodes, the author of 2014’s The Order of the World, father of two and married to philanthropist Nancy Maginnes, has remained influential.
In January 2023, he called for continued support for Ukraine, which he believes should join NATO.
Kissinger was born on May 27, 1923 in Fürth, Germany, to a Jewish family that moved to New York, fleeing Nazism.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with his Vietnamese counterpart Le Duc Thuo for the secret negotiations to end the Vietnam War and normalize diplomatic relations between the United States and China during Richard Nixon’s presidency (1969-1974).
To date, he is the only person in United States history to simultaneously hold the positions of Secretary of State and National Security Advisor.
Source: DN
