حياة وسيرة هنري كيسنجر (1) infographic
Graphic shows life and times of Henry Kissinger.
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سياسة

وفاة وزير الخارجية الأميركي الأسبق هنري كيسنجر عن عمر يناهز 100 عام

By Duncan Mil

November 30, 2023 - بصفته مستشاراً للأمن القومي ووزيراً للخارجية، أثر هنري كيسنجر بشكل كبير على السياسة الخارجية للولايات المتحدة الأميركية من العام 1969 إلى العام 1976 في عهد الرئيسين ريتشارد نيكسون وجيرالد فورد. كيسنجر توفي عن عمر يناهز 100 عام

With the Cold War at its height, Kissinger became National Security Advisor under President Richard Nixon in 1968.

In 1969, for the first time, the United States and the USSR agreed to significantly slow the nuclear arms race with the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT).

The Vietnam War had settled into a deadly stalemate, dividing America. Kissinger led the peace talks, which allowed the U.S. military to make a secure and dignified withdrawal in 1973 after eight years of conflict.

The Nixon administration made a diplomatic rapprochement with mainland China to strengthen America’s position in Asia. The Communists had won control in 1949, estranging the U.S. After Kissinger’s secret negotiations with Premier Zhou Enlai, Nixon took a spectacular trip to China in February 1972 to seal the new relationship.

In October 1973, Israeli officials telephoned Kissinger to say that they were fighting off an invasion. Egyptian forces attacked the Sinai while the Syrian army was in Israel’s north. The so-called fourth Arab-Israeli War had begun. Nixon dispatched Kissinger to negotiate with Israel, Egypt, and Syria -- Kissinger’s famous “shuttle diplomacy.”

Kissinger’s reign as the prime architect of U.S. foreign policy waned with Nixon's resignation in 1974 amid the Watergate scandal. Still, he continued to be a diplomatic force as secretary of state under Nixon's successor, President Gerald Ford, and to offer strong opinions throughout the rest of his life.

While many hailed Kissinger for his brilliance and broad experience, others branded him a war criminal for his support for anti-communist dictatorships, especially in Latin America.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 30/11/2023; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Getty Images
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