Late last month Henry Kissinger celebrated his 100th birthday. Kissinger of course served as US national security adviser and secretary of state under presidents Nixon and Ford.It is said nobody alive has more experience of international affairs. He played key roles in important global events – the Vietnam war, the Israeli-Arab war in the 1970s, and the opening up to China when the US brought the communist regime out of the shadows and onto the global stage; just to cite a few examples.
Even today Mr Kissinger remains a widely respected – and reviled – figure in the world of geopolitics. Many senior American presidents, politicians, and presidential candidates of both parties have sought his advice as they devised their approaches to global affairs.During his active years in diplomacy Mr Kissinger became known for his pursuit of what has come to be called ‘realpolitik’, defined as a realistic and pragmatic approach to conducting diplomatic affairs and more broadly relations with other nations. Read more…