Henry Kissinger (2022): Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy, New York: Penguin Press (Pp. 528).
Every society craves a credible, mature and patronal type of leadership. A leader who shapes the country and governs thy kind in the present in the juxtaposition of the versions of the past towards renaissance of time and circumstances. Kissinger’s 19th innings in penning on leadership calibre is calligraphy of realpolitik in international relations notwithstanding leadership to dexterously oversee the challenging domestic state of affairs. Kissinger, a doyen of diplomacy and statecraft is a persona grata of the world who spellbinds experts and practitioners alike to his musings on international affairs based on the pitfalls and promises in public affairs. Likewise, the public intellectual circle is insatiable to critique power politics that undermine the constant search for liberty, justice, and truth – three pillars of liberal democracy. Kissinger’s wit and wisdom are prudential foresight based on his métier of world history, diplomacy, and pragmatic philosophers’ contemplation of the West. A man who keeps abreast of power politics and world events counsels the Chief Executives and influences many with his ammunition of strategic thoughts and insights into contemporary world affairs. He concedes both the state of nature and human nature. He is an expert on pragmatics and prudence to steer political and diplomatic pulse towards a long-term current history by choosing policy options bearing in mind the present and securing the future of posterity.
Kissinger’s knack for diplomacy and statecraft probes into the strategies of six national leaders of the 20th century. He unifies “a theory of leadership and diplomacy” based on the practices of government and governance not only in the state but also in regional to global affairs. He counsels that a good leader must balance the past and the future and second abide values and aspirations of the folk whom he or she leads. Leaders thus need to think and act at the intersection of these “two axes.”
So the hindsight and intuitive foresight of leaders “is inherently conjectural and uncertain.” Hence discerning the trend or direction enables one to pin objectives and undertake strategic actions. Six leaders are typical in their context and extraordinary with their distinctive strategies of statecraft. It embodies Kissinger’s world leadership in world strategy and facts in world history. Leaders with yeoman task to raise a fallen people and ruins of war, conflict and crises with the angst of “the strategy of humility” towards a phoenix-like rise in the case of Konrad Adenauer of Germany. Similarly, Charles de Gaulle steered France from the ashes of the Nazis’ attack to the triumph of a free society and renewed grandeur of the French by “the strategy of will.” Kissinger confides that Richard Nixon during the Cold War provided an edge in the geo-strategy of the US in the edifice of “the strategy of equilibrium.” After twenty-five years of conflict, Anwar Sadat brought a vision of peace to the Middle East through a “strategy of transcendence.” Against the odds, Lee Kuan Yew created a powerhouse city-state, Singapore, by “the strategy of excellence.” And, though Britain was known as “the sick man of Europe” when Margaret Thatcher came to power, she renewed her country’s morale and international position by “the strategy of conviction.”
Kissinger describes his knowledge about leadership as inured, enriched and imbedded by times and contexts. These enlightening six leaders are noble souls in statecraft. Kissinger weighing their weaknesses and strengths captivates the eyewitness of power in action. Kissinger himself is the testimony of these leaders in style and craft in policy and practice. This book is “a stately tome covered in virginal white.” “It purports to be a series of profiles in power,” about the subjects to learn from a person of such stature a rare in his hundredth year scribbling a book. He has written a well about a chronicle of our age of flux. A relevant and timely magnum opus giving justice to Kissinger’s vocation. It bears our turning point in history. Kissinger’s impression of being a tall person of the 20th century has judiciously chosen six personalities with charismatic leadership. An added advantage of his rapport and understanding of their available choices in a particular time of history. To a great extent, this book registers to secure games of politicking that impacted the contemporary generation. Kissinger meticulously recalls the Nixon Presidency with his fall from grace. Even though these posthumous leaders do not ignite any interest these days, Kissinger says the difficult riddle and puzzling issues of that era cannot be evaded.
Kissinger is “a living archive” to understand great and incisive insights into worldly affairs needed tact, intelligence and adeptness at statecraft. A thought provocateur or talisman who mines his ideas that are subtle about the contours of current world history. This book is his first-hand knowledge and immutable memory of giants who governed the epochs to salvage their countries from crises and contingencies. Kissinger as always is a sharp, witty and astute legend in his calling of statecraft. He delineates concerns and questions with wary precision. It is said that Kissinger’s “rhetoric is both eloquent and subtle.” To navigate the contemporary world undergoing eternal transition, world history inspires not from a fixed paradigm. But as a concept that reflects the past with the undercurrents of present times. I heard about the deep economy but this time Kissinger talks of “deep literacy” as the internet goggled cannot answer the questions of our world.
These six leaders with their choices of strategy are better than worst to achieve raisons d’état. It arouses controversy however Kissinger tries to do “the balance line of history.” Strategies, contrasts and commonalities of leadership quality had transformed their homeland into a “form of illusion.” These leaders had transcended democracy, and nation-state and lapsed “into mysticism.” These iconic cults pervade an indestructible spirit of virtue and progress in their quest toward “the conviction of ideals.” In an unquenchable era of “restless expectation,” this book provides a series of power holders who were bold enough to act decisively against topsy-turvy public and international affairs by overriding national interests. Six leaders inherited intractable geopolitics, and uneasy governance and they had outwon and improved delicate conditions of the state of affairs. Kissinger says the intent does not make great leaders.
All these lives were shaped by the Second Thirty Years’ Wars (1914-1945) with common traits of candid and direct about hard truths, boldness and willingness to get divisive. Kissinger notes that they did not aim for or expect consensus. “A heartless mind, eyebrows raiser and the beady-eyed rationale,” such frowning or scowling political milieu has not encumbered statesperson to pull down to enter the corridors of government. Thatcherism and Reaganism heralded economic neoliberalism that is loathed and faced resistance and legacies shaping our history till now. Kissinger cannot be divorced from the mainstream world history that commenced in the 1930s.
There are two types of leaders – statesmen and prophets. Statesmen analyze ground reality and optimize maximum interests “balancing vision against risk” and history gets continuum “than the passion of movement.” He synthesized the two fundamental modes of leadership – a pragmatic and managerial statesman and a visionary and transformational prophet. Moderation of actions, restraint on emotions, acknowledgment of liberty and prudence over long-term repercussions, and the role of virtuous leadership are some of Kissinger’s thoughts on stewardship. While Kissinger conceives Prophets implements norms and values quickly and the quality of such conviction determines a pivotal political role. He says prophets hold the elevated and passionate view that may “achieve historic transformations.” But it does not make room for gruelling endeavors and the capacity of “any one generation to adapt to fundamental change.” To recognize the importance of history and eschew it or to change it, Kissinger says, brings additional suffering. “A geopolitical guru” with sharp memories and an iota full of lies is more interested to peek into the mind of leaders and how they act on the world stage than their mendacity. Kissinger says it is not a cookbook and is supposed to inspire some reflection on leadership in world strategy.
