His study of six leaders from the 20th century is partial but enlightening
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskMr Kissinger’s six are an eclectic bunch. Konrad Adenauer was the first post-war chancellor of West Germany. Charles de Gaulle saved France twice, first during the second world war, then at the time of the Algerian crisis. The author’s old boss, Richard Nixon, shook geopolitics with his opening to China before scandal brought him down. Anwar Sadat paid with his life for forging a lasting peace with Israel as Egypt’s president.
The book is redeemed, and more, by the analytical framework in which each leader is examined, and by the author’s personal knowledge of his subjects. Moreover, the writing is always crisp and lucid, even when conveying arcane theories of international relations, such as the notion of “equilibrium” that defined Nixon’s foreign policy .
In Mr Kissinger’s view, there are essentially two types of leader, the statesman and the prophet. Statesmen manipulate circumstances to their advantage, temper vision with wariness and work with the grain of societies until existing institutions need to be changed or confronted. Prophets are prepared, if not eager, to break with the past no matter the risk.
By contrast, de Gaulle and Sadat were both driven by a prophetic ideal of what their countries could and should become. De Gaulle’s feat of keeping the idea of the Free French alive when stranded in London in 1940 was an almost mystical triumph of will over reality. Sadat’s belief that Egypt could never be independent and free without setting the terms of peaceful coexistence with Israel was rooted in a profound sense of his country’s long history.
Belgique Dernières Nouvelles, Belgique Actualités
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