Is it worth reading?

One thing is certain. His analyses are sought after and praised by many (important) people. Henry Kissinger has had as many as 17 engagements with Putin and meets Trump often. His consulting firm is very successful. Kissinger is a man of great influence. So it is nice to have read him. The book is clearly politically coloured. You can agree or disagree with his statements. But Henry Kissinger has been an important man for America and world history, and his views on the future world order and the challenges of the twenty-first century are worth reading.

Who was Kissinger?

World order. Two words whose applicability in today’s world remains unclear. Does a contemporary world order even exist? Does US hegemony still exist? What role does Europe play politically, diplomatically and economically in the world? Are the BRIC countries still BRIC countries at all? Has China turned the world order upside down in less than 30 years? Can clean energy monopoly change the world economic order? Does a world order exist at all? All these questions are rightly being asked and are very interesting. These questions are ever about our future.

World order. People have been showing interest in the process of making the world order for ages. One person who also shows such interest is Henry Kissinger.

Henry Kissinger, aged ninety-seven, was born in Germany in 1925. He was naturalised as an American in 1943. He was Secretary of State until 1977 and Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs from 1975. Kissinger is the man behind the Sino-American rapprochement during the Cold War and is an accomplished diplomat. Kissinger is also an honoured man; he has received many rewards and awards for his actions, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973. In the US, he received the most recognition for his deeds, receiving several medals from the president such as the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the US Army Bronze Medal and the Medal of Liberty. So Henry Kissinger is a respected man in the US and around the world. Opposite those who praise Henry Kissinger are those who strongly criticise his time in politics. Some say he played a role behind the uprisings in Chile, which caused much unrest in the country. His most outspoken critics condemn the decisions he allegedly made about what happened in the Vietnam War and his role in Chilie.

World order

Kissinger is the author of nineteen books. His latest book is called World Order and came out in September 2014. In this book, he explores the world’s search for a world order. Thus, he also describes the history of world order. At least, he talks about the crucial the treaties and dates that he believes are at the heart of the history of the world order and the world order itself. In this book, he reveals his much-needed analysis on the current world order and how it came about. In World Order, Henry Kissinger reveals his take on the new and old challenges in this rapidly changing twenty-first century. One of the questions he tries to answer in his book is the question of countries’ different perspectives on history and the possibility of creating a common international world order.

To answer this question and others related to world order, Henry Kissinger uses many examples. For example, Kissinger talks about the Westphalian system that has had a great impact on history. He shows the differences between countries and the difficulties for some countries to work together. Henry Kissinger therefore argues that in the beginning there was no possibility of world order.

Now it would be different, there are no longer countries striving for total economic, political, military or cultural hegemony. Or are there any (China? or North Korea?)? Today, countries deal with politically important issues at the global level with the help of political institutions. But where is it going? No major consensus has yet been found among the world’s major political players. According to Kissinger, an international system would only work if it contains two crucial elements. The first element is a balance of power within the system. The second element is that the system must be seen as legitimate by other countries. As an example, he takes the Treaty of Westphalia. After the Thirty Years’ War, most European countries were at the same level of power. In doing so, the winners absorbed the losers of this war to give legitimacy to this treaty. Another example is the Napoleonic Wars. France became strong as a nation and sought a hegemonic place within the European system. The other countries of this system could not accept this, because in a working system, all powers must be on the same level. After the Vienna Treaty, the European system was rebalanced.

Through critical analysis, Kissinger shows in his book his search for world order and explains the different types of treatment that are part of this search. And he does so by sharing his unique perspective on international relations.