Diplomacy(Kissinger book)

Diplomacy

First edition
Author	Henry Kissinger
Language	English
Subject	Diplomacy
Publisher	Simon & Schuster
Publication date	1994
Publication place	United States
Pages	912
ISBN	0-671-51099-1
OCLC	32350622

Diplomacyis a 1994 book written by formerUnited States National Security AdvisorandSecretary of StateHenry Kissinger.

Summary

It is a sweep of the history ofinternational relationsand the art ofdiplomacythat largely concentrates on the 20th century and theWestern World.Kissinger, as a great believer in therealist school(realism) of international relations, focuses strongly on the concepts of thebalance of powerin Europe prior toWorld War I,raison d'ÉtatandRealpolitikthroughout the ages of diplomatic relations. Kissinger also provides critiques of the counterrealistdiplomatic tactics ofcollective security,which was developed in the Charter of theLeague of Nations,andself-determination,which was also a principle of the League. Kissinger also examines the use of thesphere of influencearguments put forth by theSoviet Unionin Eastern and Southern Europe afterWorld War II,an argument that has been maintained by contemporary Russian foreign relations with regard toUkraine,Georgiaand other former Soviet satellites inCentral Asia.

The history begins in Europe in the 17th century but quickly advances up to the World Wars and then theCold War.Kissinger refers to himself numerous times in the book, especially when he recounts theRichard NixonandGerald Fordpresidencies. The book ends with the argument that the US after the Cold War world should return to European style realpolitik and abandon Wilsonian idealism for it is a must if America is willing to survive—they must adhere to tough choices which conforms to the reality of the situation, not some sort of grasping the situation that they are in with a touch of utopic vision.But he cautioned that the realpolitik is not some sort of an automatic 'cure-all' for all the diplomatic or political feuds.

Kissinger dedicated the book to the men and women of theUnited States Foreign Service.

Praise

In aNew York Timesreview the book was likened to Machiavelli's classic 'Discourses' and predicted that in future it will be read, like Machiavelli's book, "for its wisdom".

Criticism

The book has been target of criticism for historical inaccuracies.

Chapters

1. The New World Order
2. The Hinge:Theodore RooseveltorWoodrow Wilson
3. From Universality to Equilibrium:Richelieu,William of Orange,andPitt
4. TheConcert of Europe:Great Britain, Austria, and Russia
5. Two Revolutionaries:Napoleon IIIandBismarck
6. Realpolitik Turns on Itself
7. A Political Doomsday Machine: European Diplomacy Before theFirst World War
8. Into the Vortex: The Military Doomsday Machine
9. The New Face of Diplomacy: Wilson and theTreaty of Versailles
10. The Dilemmas of the Victors
11. Stresemannand the Re-emergence of the Vanquished
12. The End of Illusion:Hitlerand the Destruction of Versailles
13. Stalin's Bazaar
14. TheNazi-Soviet Pact
15. America Re-enters the Arena:Franklin Delano Roosevelt
16. Three Approaches to Peace: Roosevelt, Stalin, andChurchillin World War II
17. The Beginning of theCold War
18. The Success and the Pain ofContainment
19. The Dilemma of Containment: TheKorean War
20. Negotiating with the Communists:Adenauer,Churchill, andEisenhower
21. Leapfrogging Containment: TheSuez Crisis
22. Hungary:Upheavalin the Empire
23. Khrushchev's Ultimatum: TheBerlin Crisis 1958-63
24. Concepts of Western Unity:Macmillan,de Gaulle,Eisenhower, andKennedy
25. Vietnam: Entry into the Morass;Trumanand Eisenhower
26. Vietnam: On the Road to Despair; Kennedy, andJohnson
27. Vietnam: The Extrication;Nixon
28. Foreign Policy as Geopolitics: Nixon's Triangular Diplomacy
29. Détenteand Its Discontents
30. TheEnd of the Cold War:ReaganandGorbachev
31. TheNew World OrderReconsidered

A leather-bound, gold-embossed edition of the book was published by theEaston Pressand signed by Kissinger.

The book appears in the filmMuppet Treasure Island,in which The Great Gonzo pulls it out of Billy Bones' sea chest.

References

• Kissinger, Henry.Diplomacy.New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994.ISBN0-671-51099-1

External links

• Presentation by Kissinger onDiplomacy,April 7, 1994,C-SPAN