Kissinger´s final interview (yes, really)

 

Henry Kissinger´s last interview, in both summary and in full. Note, however, that the Breitbart editor distorts Kissinger´s remarks about Jordan and the West Bank. The old national security advisor isn´t saying that "Jordan is Palestine", he is saying that Jordan should take control of the West Bank - a very different concept! 

The former idea would entail the overthrow of the Hashemite dynasty and turning Jordan (really Transjordan) into an actual Palestinian state - a crazy solution from anybody´s perspective - while the latter means that the Hashemites remain in power and simply retake the West Bank (the situation before 1967).

The main "take away" from the conversation seems to be that the United State must take a more active part in the Mideast conflict to balance the more radical stances of the Arab states, such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia. It´s not spelled out exactly what kind of engagement Kissinger may have in mind...

Note also that the centenarian still calls for a détente with China.  

Kissinger´s Final Interview (Summary) 

Kissinger´s (Maybe) Last Interview

Fucking pandas

 

Thomas Sheridan´s reaction to Henry Kissinger´s death. It´s very, very bizarre...and mostly about other things than the old national security advisor!  

Good night, sweet prince

Look who´s no longer with us! Two different takes on recently diseased Henry Kissinger. 

Henry Kissinger, American Diplomat and Nobel Winner, dead at 100

Henry Kissinger, war criminal, finally dies

Can we *now* arrest Kissinger for treason? Please?

Credit: EPA/Sergei Chirikov

Henry Kissinger again! The relevant excerpts:

>>>Veteran US statesman Henry Kissinger has urged the West to stop trying to inflict a crushing defeat on Russian forces in Ukraine, warning that it would have disastrous consequences for the long term stability of Europe.

>>>The former US secretary of state and architect of the Cold War rapprochement between the US and China told a gathering in Davos that it would be fatal for the West to get swept up in the mood of the moment and forget the proper place of Russia in the European balance of power.

>>>Dr Kissinger said the war must not be allowed to drag on for much longer, and came close to calling on the West to bully Ukraine into accepting negotiations on terms that fall very short of its current war aims.

>>>“Negotiations need to begin in the next two months before it creates upheavals and tensions that will not be easily overcome. Ideally, the dividing line should be a return to the status quo ante. Pursuing the war beyond that point would not be about the freedom of Ukraine, but a new war against Russia itself,” he said.

>>>He told the World Economic Forum that Russia had been an essential part of Europe for 400 years and had been the guarantor of the European balance of power structure at critical times. European leaders should not lose sight of the longer term relationship, and nor should they risk pushing Russia into a permanent alliance with China.

>>>“I hope the Ukrainians will match the heroism they have shown with wisdom,” he said, adding with his famous sense of realpolitik that the proper role for the country is to be a neutral buffer state rather than the frontier of Europe. 

The rest of the article is also interesting, arguing that the sanctions against Russia doesn´t work. 

Henry Kissinger: Ukraine must give Russia territory

Out of darkness, into dusk

Yes, Henry Kissinger is still alive. He was recently interviewed by the Financial Times (see clip above). It´s not clear to me whether Kissinger doesn´t know what to say, or is dissimulating (after all these years). Probably the latter, since he is still active, in the guise of being "a private student of international relations". Kissinger has met with Putin about 20 times (!), and also had conversations with China´s Paramount Leader Xi. He describes Putin as having a "mystical" view of Russian history, but when asked about Putin´s red line (when would Russia use nuclear weapons?), Kissinger says he has no idea. Maybe he really doesn´t. He *does* sound worried, however...

Kissinger indicates that regime change in Russia or China shouldn´t be an American priority, unless the US is forced into such a situation. He also implies that Russia and China should be treated differently, so they won´t unite against the US (they already have, but Kissinger regards this as unnatural - the interviewer points out that China might want to take Siberia). In other words: one of them should be treated better than the other. However, he refuses to say which nation the US should prefer, but in interviews made some years ago, Kissinger (unsurprisingly) preferred Beijing. The old Secretary of State also discusses his "pingpong diplomacy" with Mao´s China, the purpose of which was to encircle the Soviet Union. 

I get the impression that despite the talk about "a new era" and the worries that Putin might push the button, Kissinger at bottom believes that very little will change "once the war in Ukraine is over". Both Russia and China will remain great powers, and the task of the United States will be to create a balance of power with them, which looks strikingly similar to the old one Henry has been used to most of his life. 

The old dinosaur seems oblivious to the fact that the world actually has entered a new era. An era in which Russia and/or China *or even the United States itself* might collapse. An era of climate crisis, peak oil, famine and Völkerwanderung. Cynically speaking, some idle threat by Russia to nuke a town in the Donbass might become the least of our worries. 

Maybe Henry Kissinger should stay in the shadows...

Hunan Henry

Henry Kissinger wants to thaw US relations with China and strike a real "balance of power" with the PRC. He doesn´t mention Russia, though. So presumably he simply wants to reset the US-Chinese alliance he himself helped to develop back in the 1970´s, an alliance directed against the Soviet Union. That is, Russia. Or am I missing something here?

Endless US-China contest risks catastrophic conflict, Henry Kissinger warns

The happy generations

A review of "7 Future Predictions: Spiritual Interview with the Guardian Spirit of Henry Kissinger" 

This is a relatively uninteresting book, published by the Japanese new religion Happy Science. The group is led by Ryuho Okawa and seems to combine Buddhism, New Age, positive thinking and right-wing Japanese nationalism in about equal proportions. Okawa is most notorious for his “spiritual interviews” with various politicians and celebrities, really a form of séances during which Okawa claims to channel the guardian angels of Putin, Obama, Trump or Mandela.

This particular book contains an “interview” with the guardian spirit of Henry Kissinger! The séance is rather short and only fills one third of the e-book. The rest is a gigantic index of other books or pamphlets by Okawa. The first book by this author I've read seemed relatively serious, although I didn't believe in its contents. I think it was “The Laws of Eternity”. However, the channeled material strikes me as unserious and extremely frivolous. In this book, it's obvious that “Kissinger” is really Okawa himself, including the rambling style and the trade-mark expression “I think so”. During the séance, Kissinger reveals that he was Cassandra in a previous incarnation. His longstanding interest in China is due to a past life as Sima Yi, a prominent general and politician during the Three Kingdoms Period (I admit that I never heard of him before!). Well, that explains everything, doesn't it?

Not really recommended.