The Economist: Kissinger on avoiding world war
Economist Podcasts
The Economist
4.3 • 5K Ratings
🗓️ 20 May 2023
⏱️ 56 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
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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| 1:08.5 | Henry Kissinger's undergraduate thesis set a record at Harvard. |
| 1:12.6 | At 383 pages, it is thought to be the longest ever written, |
| 1:18.6 | so lengthy that future projects were limited to a third of the size. |
| 1:24.6 | It examined the meaning of history, and the role that individuals play in shaping it. |
| 1:30.3 | The young Kissinger took in thinkers from Socrates to Kant to Dostoevsky. |
| 1:37.3 | Eventually, the thesis was awarded the highest possible honours. |
| 1:41.3 | For the best part of a century, Kissinger has thought a lot about the relationships between |
| 1:47.5 | the world's great powers and how to prevent war between them. |
| 1:54.0 | Today, a sense of that threat is palpable. |
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