In Memoriam: Henry Kissinger
The U.S. Institute of Peace is saddened by the death of Henry Kissinger, who played a pivotal role—as Secretary of State, National Security Advisor, Chancellor of William and Mary, and chair of the 9/11 Commission-- in shaping America’s foreign and national security policy and priorities for more than five decades. Secretary Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Pece Prize in 1973 for negotiating a ceasefire in the Vietnam War.
In a speech to USIP’s International Advisory Council in 2011, Kissinger addressed the tension in foreign policy between realism, which he was best known for, and American ideals: “I believe you cannot put values and interests into absolute opposition to each other … A workable international system must have an equilibrium of power, or the temptations to abuse the imbalance will be irresistible. But it also needs a sense of justice, because if the components of the international system do not believe that they are living in something compatible with their values then the balance of power by itself — it’s not enough to sustain the system.”