2023

2023 saw the deaths of several influential figures in world politics, from former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. As always, Foreign Policy was there to provide in-depth, thoughtful analysis and commentary about their lives and legacies.

Here are four notable FP obituaries from 2023.

1. Pervez Musharraf Dragged His Country Down

By Mosharraf Zaidi, Feb. 5

Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s former president who took power after a military coup in October 1999 and led the country until 2008, was a charismatic and deeply polarizing figure.

“As president, his straight-talking, unvarnished style was welcomed by Pakistanis unaccustomed to that kind of candor from a public official. For Pakistan’s rising urban middle class, he became a patron of music, television, film, and fashion,” Mosharraf Zaidi writes. “But for the rest of the country—the vast majority—Musharraf’s rule was a time of violence, diminished control over their own lives, and the absence of democratic representation.”

“Musharraf’s military colleagues in Pakistan often praised him as daring, forthright, and brave—yet the primary legacy he leaves behind will feature none of those adjectives. Pakistan’s 10th president since independence will be remembered instead as a divisive, constitution-shredding military dictator who set Pakistan back decades.”

2. The Scandalous Life and Career of Silvio Berlusconi

By Barbie Latza Nadeau, June 12

The arc of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s life and career—from cruise ship singer to real estate and media mogul to Italy’s longest-reigning post-World War II leader—reads more like something dreamed up by a Hollywood screenwriter than the story of a real person.

Berlusconi served as prime minister three times: from May 1994 to January 1995, from June 2001 to May 2006, and from May 2008 to November 2011. And, as journalist Barbie Latza Nadeau writes, “His tenure was peppered by tax fraud accusations, sex scandals, whispers of mafia involvement, and gaffes. He was convicted of bribery, tax evasion, and having sex with an underage call girl—convictions that mostly were overturned during Italy’s generous appellate process. At least twice, his eventual acquittals were the result of his own government changing the laws.”

Berlusconi’s larger-than-life persona and flamboyant lifestyle might make for good entertainment, but his impact on Italian politics, media, and culture is no laughing matter. “For many, it might be tempting to think of him as a pathetic joke,” Nadeau writes, “but he was far too wealthy and powerful for that.”

3. Li Keqiang Lived and Died in Xi Jinping’s Shadow

By James Palmer, Oct. 27

“From 2012 to 2022, [former Chinese Premier] Li [Keqiang] was nominally the second-most powerful man in China,” writes FP’s James Palmer. “In practice, though, he was entirely eclipsed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Li’s legacy will be judged largely in the shadow of Xi’s.”

Palmer traces Li’s promising rise as a “bright young technocrat” and pragmatic economic reformist who at one point in the 2000s was seen as a potential successor to former Chinese President Hu Jintao, followed by Li’s systematic sidelining as Xi’s cult of personality and political power grew.

Henry Kissinger during an interview in Washington in August 1980. Steche/ullstein bild via Getty Images

4. Henry Kissinger, Colossus on the World Stage

By Michael Hirsh, Nov. 29

“Henry Alfred Kissinger, one of the most influential statesmen in American history, died on Nov. 29 at age 100 after a long and tumultuous career in which he helped author some of the greatest triumphs—as well as some of the most tragic failures—of U.S. foreign policy.” Thus begins FP columnist Michael Hirsh’s balanced obituary chronicling the life and career of a man whose impact on global politics as well as international relations scholarship will continue to be felt—and hotly debated—long after his death.

“In the view of some biographers, Kissinger ranks in stature with George Kennan, the principal author of America’s successful Cold War containment strategy, as well as with other hallowed architects of the post-World War II global system,” Hirsh writes. “Yet Kissinger also came to be reviled, especially by liberals, for practicing what they regard as a cold-blooded projection of American power that contributed to countless deaths.”