Henry Alfred Kissinger (born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023), widely considered as the most powerful US diplomat of the Cold War Era, passed away on November 29, 2023 at the age of 100. He breathed his last at his Connecticut residence after suffering from old age problems for a long time. The noted diplomat enjoyed fame and also faced criticism during his illustrious career. Sometimes he was praised for playing a positive role during various international crises, and sometimes he was condemned for violating Human Rights.

Kissinger’s personal life, too, was quite interesting. Born into a Jewish family in Germany, this seasoned diplomat went through many ups and downs to reach the threshold of success. Some of his colleagues used to consider Kissinger as an overly ambitious person. Kissinger was born in Germany on May 27, 1923. Fearing the Nazi atrocities, his family immigrated to the US in 1938. Kissinger got US citizenship in 1943, and joined the US Army three years later. He returned to Germany as a member of the 84th Division of the US Army during the Second World War. Being a German by birth, Kissinger used to help the intelligence wing of the US Army translate important documents. Later, he joined the Intelligence Department.

After completing his PhD in International Relations, Kissinger joined Harvard University as a teacher. Richard Milhous Nixon, the then US President, appointed him as the National Security Adviser (NSA) in 1969. Later, Nixon resigned amidst political controversy. However, Kissinger continued to serve as NSA. He held that position during the tenure of the next US President, Gerald Rudolff Ford Jr. In fact, Kissinger popularised the term Realpolitik (a system of politics or principles based on practical rather than moral or ideological considerations) while serving as the NSA. He always emphasised this strategy.

The US made an attempt to normalise its ties with Pakistan in the 1970s in order to repair relations with China. Kissinger was reportedly accused of backing Pakistani atrocities in erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) ahead of the 1971 War of Liberation (of Bangladesh). The role of Kissinger and the then US Administration during the 1971 India-Pakistan War also triggered a controversy. Kissinger’s comments on Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, rocked the Indo-US ties. His hostile attitude towards India had been debated several times. At that period of time, the US used to view India with suspicion as the South Asian nation maintained close ties with the erstwhile Soviet Union. However, the hatred (between the US and India) had crossed political lines and had become a psychological issue mainly because of Kissinger.

The US State Department made some secret documents public in 2005. According to some of those documents, Kissinger reportedly used insulting terms about Indira Gandhi during his meeting with President Nixon. He even used vulgar languages about Indian women. Apart from all these, the diplomat was accused of fuelling the conflict between the US and the former Soviet Union, and of supporting dictatorial rulers in different countries, including Chile, etc.

It is believed that Kissinger was behind the US’ diplomatic stance on various international crises. Many believe that he, as the US Secretary of State, played a crucial role in ending the 1973 Yom Kippur War (also known as the Ramadan War) between Israel and Palestine. Others acknowledge his contribution as one of the architects of the Paris Peace Accords in the context of the US-Vietnam War.

Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973 as one of the architects of ending the Vietnam War. Incidentally, two members of the Nobel Committee resigned immediately after the Committee nominated him for the award. Once, American musician, singer-songwriter and satirist Thomas Andrew Lehrer famously said: “Political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.“

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das