The straight line from Kissinger to the White House's strategy on Hamas
Henry Kissinger, who passed away last week at 100, played Realpolitik like a virtuoso, often balancing conflicting agendas, based on his perception of American interests
IF you are among the many struggling to comprehend the complexities of America’s Middle East policy during these dangerous days, as Israel battles Iranian proxies on multiple fronts, it helps to understand how Henry Kissinger, who passed away last week at age 100 at his Connecticut home, set the tone.
Kissinger, who served as secretary of state in the Nixon and Ford administrations and advised every US president, formally or informally, from Kennedy to Trump, was often described as Machiavellian — in other words, like the Renaissance political theorist who notoriously argued that “the end justifies the means.” Colleagues with whom Kissinger interacted found him to be charming, exceedingly arrogant, or both simultaneously.
In my sole professional encounter with him, I found him to be studious and authoritative. In April 1984, I was a journalist in Charlotte, North Carolina, covering Kissinger’s visit to a World Trade Association conference. Kissinger, then an advisor to President Reagan on Latin America, used his visit to endorse the populist conservative Senator Jesse Helms for reelection, even though Helms was often a vocal critic of Kissinger’s foreign policy. Questioned by mostly young journalists unfamiliar with foreign policy, Kissinger answered patiently and comprehensively, peering over his trademark Legend frame eyeglasses that were a staple of opticians’ inventories in those days.
Create a free account to keep reading.
