[News in War History] 'Destroyer of the Cold War' Who Summarized a Century of Life, The World Order Changed by Kissinger

Amid WWII Turmoil, US Immigration
Realist Dreaming of 'Metternich'
Pro-Russian and Pro-Chinese Remarks in Later Years Spark Controversy

Henry Kissinger, the master diplomat who shaped the post-Cold War international order, and former U.S. Secretary of State, has passed away at the age of 100. His death is being regarded as the end of an era amid the full-fledged emergence of a new Cold War dynamic and simultaneous wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, drawing global attention.

In particular, as the current Joe Biden administration faces criticism for diplomatic failures with its so-called value-based diplomacy with allied free world nations, Kissinger’s advocacy of realist diplomacy is gaining renewed influence. This is due to criticism that excessive diplomatic pressure aimed at completely excluding authoritarian regimes from the international community ultimately manifested in localized conflicts worldwide.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Some voices even criticize Kissinger’s excessive realist diplomacy and balance-of-power efforts for having overly strengthened China and Russia. While Kissinger himself pursued the pragmatic diplomatic approach of Klemens von Metternich, a 19th-century Austrian Empire diplomat, striving to build global stability and peace, there are also claims that some wars caused greater damage under his influence, leading to highly divided evaluations.

In this segment, we will explore Kissinger’s career, which profoundly influenced global diplomacy throughout his 100-year life, as well as the history of modern wars that unfolded during his time.

◆News: Kissinger, Who Opened the Post-Cold War Era, Ends a 100-Year Life

Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (left) meeting Wang Yi, member of the Communist Party Central Political Bureau, during his visit to China last July.
[Image source=AFP·Yonhap]

First, let’s look at the news. According to The New York Times (NYT) on the 29th of last month (local time), former Secretary Kissinger passed away at his home in Connecticut, USA. He was a pivotal figure who dramatically changed world history as U.S. Secretary of State during the Cold War and has now concluded a century-long life.

He was known for having a very passionate year even this year. He showed great interest in the impact that the generative artificial intelligence (AI) trend, which swept the world this year, would have in the future. In July, amid cooling U.S.-China relations, he personally visited China and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping to work on improving relations.

His realist diplomatic policy, which held that even leaders of dictatorial or authoritarian regimes opposed to American values should be engaged in talks and diplomacy if it aligned with U.S. national interests, is receiving much attention. His realism, often called 'Realpolitik,' is nostalgically praised by some, while others criticize it as a cause of today’s collapse of international cooperation.

◆History 1: World War II That Changed His Life... Dreamed of Being the 'Metternich of the 20th Century'

A painting depicting the scene of the Congress of Vienna held in September 1814, which aimed to resolve the chaos of the Napoleonic Wars and avoid another large-scale war through balance of power and stability.

Kissinger, who left a significant mark on modern history, began his childhood amid the bleakness of war. Born in 1923 into a Jewish family in Germany during the interwar period between World War I and World War II, he was directly caught in the whirlpool of international affairs from his teenage years.

When he was 10 years old in 1933, Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party seized power in Germany, and in 1938, a decree was issued expelling all Jews from Germany, greatly affecting Kissinger’s fate. Fortunately, his parents anticipated that Nazi persecution of Jews would not end within Germany and decided to emigrate to New York, USA, saving his life.

The decision to emigrate was driven by the unbearable violence and terror Jews faced after the Nazis came to power. Kissinger and his Jewish friends were often subjected to violence by Nazi youth groups.

Escaping Nazi violence, he fled to the United States and studied diligently while working. To pay for tuition, he attended night school and worked in a razor factory. In 1943, he enlisted in the U.S. military, received training, obtained citizenship, and directly participated in World War II.

After the war, he returned to the U.S. and majored in political science at Harvard University, graduating with top honors. In 1954, he earned a Ph.D. in political science and began gaining fame as a professor of international politics. In the 1950s, he criticized the nuclear omnipotence of the U.S. and the Soviet Union and argued that balance of power and peace should be maintained through realist diplomacy.

One historical figure he particularly admired was Klemens von Metternich, the 19th-century Austrian diplomat known for establishing the so-called 'Century of Peace' in Europe after the Napoleonic Wars. Although Metternich is often negatively viewed as an anachronistic figure who advocated for the restoration of monarchies and reactionism after the French Revolution, in diplomatic history, he is recognized for his efforts to prevent another major war like the Napoleonic Wars through power balancing and checks among nations.

Metternich rejected proposals from other allied countries to divide France, which was blamed as the root cause of the French Revolution and Napoleonic invasions, to prevent it from regaining power. Instead, he aimed to check the overly powerful Russia post-war by allowing France to retain its territory intact. This was a major agenda of the 'Congress of Vienna,' famously described as 'the congress dances.' His pragmatic diplomatic approach greatly influenced Kissinger’s diplomacy.

◆History 2: War and Diplomacy Based Solely on 'National Interest'... Criticized for Strengthening China and Russia

In February 1975, U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (right), visiting China, shakes hands with Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, while U.S. President Gerald Ford (center) looks on.
[Image source= Getty Images Korea]

Based on such realist pragmatic diplomacy, Kissinger coordinated international diplomacy over a long period from the early Cold War, when fears of World War III were widespread, through d?tente with China, to the post-Cold War era. The Vietnam War, Middle East wars, civil wars in Africa and Latin America?all passed through his hands, determining the fate of many countries worldwide.

The war that most profoundly influenced his career was undoubtedly the Vietnam War. In 1969, Kissinger was appointed National Security Advisor under the Richard Nixon administration and managed to end the Vietnam War and lead peace negotiations, a difficult challenge for the U.S. at the time.

By 1969, the Vietnam War was already moving in favor of North Vietnam’s strategic advantage, and the U.S. was in a situation where victory was difficult. However, the atmosphere made it hard to admit defeat, and the prolonged war was consuming enormous budgets. North Vietnam refused negotiations, intending to continue guerrilla warfare until the U.S. completely surrendered.

At this time, Kissinger succeeded in bringing North Vietnam to the negotiating table using the so-called 'Madman Strategy.' This strategy involved the U.S. government bluffing and threatening the Soviet Union with nuclear war to pressure the Soviets into persuading North Vietnam to negotiate. The strategy worked, ultimately leading to the end of the Vietnam War and the signing of peace agreements. This Madman Strategy was later used diplomatically again during the Donald Trump administration.

Afterward, Kissinger focused on d?tente with the Soviet Union and China, striving for a tripartite balance of power and peace, culminating in the 1979 establishment of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China. Over his lifetime, he officially visited China about 100 times, working to restore U.S.-China relations. Some critics argue that he was responsible for enabling China’s rise to a level that now threatens the U.S.

However, behind the scenes, Kissinger also intervened in civil wars in Asia, Africa, and Latin America to preemptively cut off communist influence. He actively supported pro-American military coups in Chile and Argentina in the 1970s and backed Indonesia’s invasion of East Timor in 1975. Despite outward appearances of d?tente, his realist diplomacy aimed to prevent expansion of rival powers, which led to divergent fates for many countries.

He also had a significant impact on the current division of the Korean Peninsula. He proposed the so-called 'cross-recognition' plan at the United Nations, where China and the Soviet Union would recognize South Korea, and the U.S. and Japan would recognize North Korea, advocating for a balance of power. He also suggested the simultaneous admission of both Koreas to the UN. In 1991, with the simultaneous UN admission of South and North Korea, some of his ideas were realized.

◆Implication: The Dream of 'Century of Peace' Collapses... Realist Diplomacy Losing Ground

[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

With his passing and the world order facing severe challenges, concerns are rising that traditional international diplomacy is losing its influence. This is evident as wars and military threats, such as the Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict, are becoming more dominant than diplomacy.

Just as Metternich led the so-called Century of Peace from 1815 until the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Kissinger’s efforts to prevent World War III during the Cold War may be fading. There is growing fear that if history repeats itself and World War III truly breaks out, it would lead to global devastation. The international community hopes that the balance, checks, and peace efforts advocated by Kissinger will continue to prevent the outbreak of a new world war.