Kissingerism
Turning 100, the accolades for Henry Kissinger are pouring in. He is a legend. Over decades, he has assiduously cultivated and constructed the image of the sagacious elder statesman. Corporate journalists hang on his every word. Politicians seek his advice. But what is his record to deserve such respect and reverence? He is one of the most notorious characters of this or any other period in history. Just ask the Kurds, the East Timorese, the Bangladeshis, the Laotians, and the Chileans what they think of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. But since they are “unpeople,” their opinions don’t count. When he was Nixon’s national security advisor, Kissinger displayed his kowtowing to power when he kept silent as his boss made anti-Semitic remarks. When Nixon demanded that Cambodia be bombed, he conveyed the order like a good errand boy. It was Kissinger who once boasted, “The illegal we do immediately, the unconstitutional takes a little longer.”
Recorded at the University of Montana.
Speaker
Greg Grandin
Greg Grandin, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, is a professor of history at Yale. He is the author of The End of the Myth, The Blood of Guatemala, and Kissinger’s Shadow. A recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the New York Public Library, he has served on the UN Truth Commission investigating the Guatemalan Civil War. His articles appear in the Los Angeles Times, The Nation, and The New York Times.
PA listener –
Greg Grandin on Kissinger is a supercharged education in American history.
Arthur Panaro –
Dr. Grandin gave a frightening assessment of power politics. Am I correct to think I [ or anyone ] am helpless in the face of such power? It is sad to think indeed I am powerless before such a juggernaut, and think how whole societies and people become a kind of fodder for the wild beasts of the power structure.
Darek Shapiro –
Greg, thanks for placing the history of this man’s charismatic but destructive philosophy and actions in full view. I envy your students as you can show them how to do careful research with a passion for understanding the complexity of a difficult man. You explained brilliantly how H.K. worked his maniacally destructive ideas into the minds of the presidents. I understand and agree how you see he lead the destruction of the Security State and replaced it with a Jingoistic, irrational, kill first, dodge questions later philosophy.