The Economist: Kissinger on avoiding world war
The Intelligence from The Economist
The Economist
4.5 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 20 May 2023
⏱️ 53 minutes
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Summary
Henry Kissinger was one of the most influential and controversial diplomats of the 20th century. He was National Security Advisor and Secretary of State to two American presidents. Now, with China’s growing influence and the prospect of powerful technology that could change the nature of war, his ideas on great power conflict are more relevant than ever. On the eve of his 100th birthday, The Economist spent over eight hours in conversation with Mr Kissinger. In this podcast special, we focus on three elements of the wide-ranging discussion: the role of China, AI and weak American leadership.
Zanny Minton Beddoes hosts with Edward Carr. The full transcript of the conversation with Mr Kissinger is available online.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Henry Kissinger's undergraduate thesis set a record at Harvard. At 383 pages, it is thought |
| 0:14.2 | to be the longest ever written. So lengthy that future projects were limited to a third |
| 0:20.6 | of the size. It examined the meaning of history and the role that individuals play in shaping |
| 0:27.4 | it. The young Kissinger took in thinkers from Socrates to Kant to Dostoevsky. Eventually, |
| 0:36.2 | the thesis was awarded the highest possible honors. For the best part of a century, Kissinger |
| 0:42.9 | has thought a lot about the relationships between the world's great powers and how to prevent |
| 0:47.7 | war between them. Today, a sense of that threat is palpable. From Washington and Beijing, |
| 0:55.9 | the problems are clear, mutual suspicion, little contact, a struggle for dominance. Meanwhile, |
| 1:03.3 | Europe is at war and Russia is tumbling into China's orbit. For a sobering analysis of |
| 1:09.8 | how grave the risks are, you just need to go to Midtown Manhattan. |
| 1:14.2 | There are so many photographs in here, Dr Kissinger. |
| 1:18.3 | Well, this is President of the Czech Republic here in the corner. |
| 1:25.3 | Do you present to you, sir? |
| 1:27.3 | Kissinger first arrived in New York in 1938 as a refugee fleeing Nazi Germany. He became |
| 1:34.2 | one of the towering figures of 20th century foreign affairs. First as a scholar and then |
| 1:40.3 | a practitioner, national security adviser and secretary of state, to President Nixon and |
| 1:45.5 | Ford. He shaped some of the most controversial and consequential episodes of American foreign |
| 1:51.0 | policy. For the past half century, Kissinger emerged as a quiet counsellor and emissary |
| 1:57.7 | to presidents, prime ministers and monarchs around the world. |
| 2:03.1 | I'm his Animate and Battles, editor of the economist, and this is a podcast special |
| 2:08.0 | featuring our conversation with Henry Kissinger, which we're publishing just days before his |
| 2:13.0 | 100th birthday. |
... |
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