Former United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger died on November 29, 2023 at the age of 100. Kissinger was renowned for opening up diplomatic and trade relations with China, in addition to implementing a policy of detente with the Soviet Union.
He died at his home in Connecticut, which was confirmed by Kissinger Associates, his geopolitical consulting firm. The firm described the former Secretary of State as a “respected American scholar and statesman” in a statement published on the night of November 29.
Kissinger was born in Germany. His family moved to the United States prior to the outbreak of World War II. Kissinger would later become a US citizen and join the US army during the conflict.
Once the war ended. Kissinger pursued an academic career and subsequently became a teacher of international relations for two decades at Harvard University. He served under the administrations of Republican presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, during the height of the Cold War.
Current Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared in a statement on November 30 that Kissinger had made “countless history-bending decisions” during his time in government. “To serve as America’s chief diplomat today is to move through a world that bears Henry’s lasting imprint — from the relationships he forged, to the tools he pioneered, to the architecture he built.”
Although Kissinger has received praise for his masterful geopolitical moves such as normalizing relations with China, he was sharply criticized for justifying policies that led to human rights violations in countries ranging from Chile to Laos.
“Henry Kissinger was one of the most destructive secretaries of state in the modern history of this country. I am proud to say that Henry Kissinger is not my friend,” Bernie Sanders previously declared during a debate with Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary. Kissinger remained active and vocal on big international issues despite his advanced age.
Chinese media praised Kissinger’s legacy on November 30. In an article published on Chinese blogging site Weibo under the title “Old friend, farewell”, state media outlet CCTV praised his role in facilitating the meeting between Nixon and Chinese strongman Mao Zedong. It described the meeting as the “trans-Pacific handshake that shook the world”. Chinese media called attention to the fact that Kissinger had paid a visit to China 100 times.
Kissinger was a consummate globalist and interventionist. He is smarter and more refined than his foreign policy successors, who are boorish neoliberals and neoconservatives of the highest order. It’s a testament to how badly US foreign policy has declined in the last few decades.
If we want true foreign policy sanity, we need the likes of John Mearsheimer to take the helm on foreign affairs.