It will be news to some that Henry Kissinger is still alive. He is deaf and blind in one eye and has undergone multiple heart surgeries. Still, he says he works about 15 hours a day. And, incredibly, he remains relevant on a global scale.
Koppel asked, “If one of your aides picked up the phone, called Beijing, and said, ‘Dr. Kissinger wants to talk to President Xi Jinping,’ would he answer your call?” Asked.
“There’s a good chance he’ll answer my call, yes,” he replied.
And Russian President Vladimir Putin? “Probably so.”
“If the president comes to you and says, ‘Henry, why don’t you fly to Moscow and talk to Putin?'”
Kissinger said, “I tend to do that.” “But I’m an advisor, not an active person.”
“I didn’t mean to reinstate you as secretary of state,” Coppell laughed. “Of course you will be an advisor.”
“that’s right.”
For anyone else, arrogance works wonders. But the swarm of photographs of former U.S. presidents (both living and dead) whom Kissinger has served and advised is compelling, and the old “if you can do it, it’s not bragging” backs up the adage.
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Kissinger believes the current crisis in Ukraine may be nearing a tipping point. “Now that China is in negotiations, it will make a difference later this year,” he said. We will also discuss the negotiation process and the actual negotiations.”
You might think that Kissinger, who is about to turn 100, sympathizes with someone who is 80 or 76 and running for president. he is skeptical “It takes some physical ability,” he said. “Maturity has some advantages. Fatigue is dangerous and limits your ability to work.”
Kissinger has been at the center of things longer than most Americans have lived. I asked him to explain why the policy of the United States of America) makes absolutely no sense. It is a policy against threats that entail the destruction of all mankind,” Kissinger said at the time. “I think this is too risky and too expensive.”
Today, Kissinger states, “One of the positive outcomes of the policies pursued by virtually all American governments of both parties was that nuclear weapons had not been used for 75 years, nor were they used by their adversaries. Think and achieve.”
In 1971, on a secret mission, Kissinger set the stage for President Richard Nixon’s historic visit to China the following year. Over the past 50 years, China has evolved into a world power. Koppel asked, “Looking back now, was the world a better place because of that opening up? Or was it a more dangerous place?”
“No, China’s re-entry into the international system would have happened,” Kissinger replied. “It cannot be excluded from the international system.”
Today, China appears poised to take Taiwan by force, and President Biden said the United States will defend Taiwan.
“I mean, we have a problem,” said Kissinger.
“But it’s a dangerous time, isn’t it?”
“From that perspective, it’s a very dangerous time right now.”
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As secretary of state in 1973 and 1974, Kissinger developed a new style of diplomacy, sometimes flying between capital cities for weeks. They called it “shuttle diplomacy.” Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was an early convert.
Kissinger laid the foundation for an uneasy peace between Egypt and Israel.
By 1974, Kissinger, a brilliant but anonymous academic at Harvard University, was making headlines. This is how ABC News’ Howard K. Smith introduced a special titled “Kissinger: A Biography in Action.” [and] Has won the Nobel Peace Prize. A constitutional amendment was proposed to allow him to run for president. It doesn’t pass, but what a compliment. “
But by the summer of 1974, the American presidency itself was in jeopardy. The country was obsessed with the Watergate scandal, and Kissinger (as he told the very young Ted Koppel) was determined that his and America’s foreign policy should be considered separate.
Koppel: “Secretary, what would you do if you felt that your foreign policy was being manipulated for domestic political reasons?”
Kissinger: “I will resign, and I will say so publicly. Foreign policy must reflect the continuing values of the American people, and it must not be subject to partisan policy. ”
Nixon should have resigned. Kissinger remained secretary of state.
What about historical judgments? Kissinger’s career is one of his extraordinary achievements and has been the subject of constant controversy. Cambodian airstrikes. It’s the Vietnam War. Argentina. Chile. Many of his critics were not alive when the events they condemned occurred.
Koppel said, “There are people on our broadcast who are questioning the legitimacy of interviewing you. They feel strongly about what they are thinking. The words they use In other words, your criminality.”
“It reflects their ignorance,” Kissinger replied. “It wasn’t thought of that way. It wasn’t implemented that way.”
“When you and President Nixon came up with the bombing of Cambodia, there is no question that you did it to stop it-“
“Now we’ve been bombing all the guerrilla forces we oppose with drones and weapons of all kinds,” Kissinger said. “It’s been the same in every administration I’ve been in.”
“Especially the results in Cambodia…”
“here we go”
“No, no, no, especially—”
Kissinger said, “This is the program you’re doing to help me turn 100.” Now the younger generation feels that if they can raise their emotions, they don’t have to think.I think they don’t ask that question.”
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Long before most people were unwilling or unable to learn about the latest technology, Kissinger fell in love with the subject of artificial intelligence. He collaborated with his two co-authors on his 2021 book, The Age of AI and the Future of Humans.
“Theoretically, the United States has declared that it will always maintain and insist on human control of artificial intelligence. From a practical point of view, that is not possible,” Koppel asked.
“Well, that’s a very desirable objective, but the speed of artificial intelligence’s action becomes a problem in crisis situations,” Kissinger replied.
For example, in a wartime situation, the AI recommends a course of action that the president and his advisers would consider horribly unwise. Kissinger said, “You can’t rely on answers to double-check, because you can’t revisit all the knowledge that a machine has acquired. We’re giving it that knowledge. But , and this is going to be one of the big debates, and I’m now going to do what I did with nuclear weapons to call attention to the importance of this evolutionary impact.”
“But did you know there’s also an arms race in artificial intelligence?”
“Yeah, but no. In previous arms races, we could come up with plausible theories about how to win. It’s a whole new problem intellectually.”
Good for fighting Henry Kissinger at 100.
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Story produced by Dustin Stevens. Editor: Ed Givenish.
