Kissinger formed our future world

When any globally known figures die, there is a tsunami of assessments, both fawning and vicious.

Such is the case with the former United States secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, who died this week at the age of 100.

When judging many historical figures, critics tend to use the norms and standards of today and discount the period in which that person made their name.

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Such is the case with Kissinger, as some accused him of being a war criminal, while others praise him as one of the most effective diplomats of the 20th century.

In his 2001 book, The Trial of Henry Kissinger, Christopher Hitchens called for Kissinger’s prosecution “for war crimes, for crimes against humanity, and for offences against common or international law, including conspiracy to commit murder, kidnap, and torture” from Argentina, Bangladesh, Chile and East Timor to Cambodia, Laos, Uruguay, and Vietnam.

Yet, in evaluating Kissinger’s culpability, one has to look at the context and at the times.

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Throughout his tenure in office, the US and the rest of the Western world would have been embroiled in the Cold War, pitted against the Soviet Union in an ideological battle for the hearts and minds of humanity.

In those years, no quarter was asked, or given, by either side and both turned a blind eye to “collateral damage”, which is a nice way of saying “innocent civilian bodies.”

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Both sides started and supported wars or political factions, arranged assassinations and generally rode roughshod over human rights across the globe.

Kissinger was as good, or bad, as any of his Soviet counterparts. Yet, while he helped build and promote the idea of America as the “global policeman”, Kissinger, through his mission to bring China into the mainstream, helped lay the foundations for a future world which is, even now, changing around us.