Mr. Kissinger’s Achievements and Lessons from Real Diplomacy: Tokyo Shimbun TOKYO Web

He worked hard to prevent military conflicts and build a stable international order by balancing the power among the major powers. The late Henry Kissinger led US diplomacy during the Cold War. He was a strategist who could envision big ideas.

Kissinger’s greatest accomplishment was the US-China rapprochement. He took advantage of the conflict between the two socialist countries, the Soviet Union and China, to secretly visit China, leading to US President Richard Nixon’s surprise visit to China the following year in 1972 and the normalization of diplomatic relations in 1979.

Mr. Kissinger, who was a former presidential aide, said that although it was necessary to join hands with China now to counter the Soviet Union, in the future Japan should partner with the Soviet Union to counter the rising power of China. Sent Nixon to China.

Although the idea of ​​teaming up with the Soviet Union (Russia) fell through, Kissinger made a notable proposal last year regarding the invasion of Ukraine. He reversed his stance against Ukraine’s membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and argued that it should be allowed to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) after a ceasefire with Russia.

The reason for this is that rather than leaving Ukraine, which has significantly increased its military power through military support from the West, making it a member of NATO and putting a “hoop” on it would be more conducive to European security.

These two anecdotes demonstrate Kissinger’s outstanding foresight and thorough realism.

On the other hand, Mr. Kissinger continues to receive praise and criticism.

The interests of small and medium-sized countries were sacrificed in the face of diplomacy aimed at balancing power between major powers. Nixon’s visit to China was carried out over Japan’s head, and it taught Japan a bitter lesson.

It cannot be denied that this cold-hearted pragmatism, which holds hands even with opponents of different political systems, has led to a neglect of American values ​​such as human rights and democracy.

At the end of the Vietnam War, Cambodia was heavily bombed, resulting in many civilian casualties. He was also involved in the military coup that overthrew the leftist government in Chile.

While competition among great powers is becoming increasingly intense, emerging and developing countries, known as the Global South, are rapidly emerging. New international trends are emerging that are beyond the reach of Kissinger’s realistic diplomacy. There are many lessons to be learned from Kissinger’s diplomacy.