The tragedy behind Kissinger’s realpolitik

UnHerd ^

[FarCenter]

...

Kissinger’s beliefs, which emerge through his writing, are certainly not for the faint-hearted. They are emotionally unsatisfying, yet analytically timeless. They include:

• Disorder is worse than injustice, since injustice merely means the world is imperfect, while disorder tempts anarchy and the Hobbesian nightmare of war and conflict, of all against all.
• It follows, then, that order is more important than freedom, since without order there is no freedom for anybody.
• The fundamental issue in international and domestic affairs is not the control of wickedness, but the limitation of self-righteousness. For it is self-righteousness that often leads to war and the most extreme forms of repression, both at home and abroad.
• The aim of policy is to reconcile what is just with what is possible. Journalists and freedom fighters have it easy in life since they can concern themselves only with what is just. Policymakers, burdened with bureaucratic responsibility in order to advance a nation’s self-interest, have no such luxury.
• Pessimism can often be morally superior to misplaced optimism. Pessimism, therefore, is not necessarily to be disparaged.

  It is true that much of the above is derivative of the great philosophers, especially Hobbes. But it is to Kissinger’s credit that he consciously activated it in the daily conduct of foreign policy.

[MeanWestTexan]

The one thing I liked about Kissenger is he clearly recognized Nazis as socialists and made little distinction between all brands of socialism and Nazis.

[Wilderness Conservative]

This meme got censored on Truth Social. Pathetic.

[ryderann]

I wonder how many Cambodians he killed.

[dfwgator]

Their blood is on the hands of Joe Biden and all the other Democrats.

[Dr. Sivana]

There is some truth in his statements. But there are also degrees of disorder and injustice. So yes, Napoleon was MUCH better than the Reign of Terror, but you don’t want to stay at Napoleon.

[Laslo Fripp]

At least he got the shape of the table at the Paris peace talks correct.

[Laslo Fripp]

Or was that John Carey‘s doing?

He served in Vietnam, you know.

[dfwgator]

He was on a Secret Mission in Cambodia in December 68, on orders from President Nixon.

[mjp]

Disorder is worse than injustice, since injustice merely means the world is imperfect, while disorder tempts anarchy and the Hobbesian nightmare of war and conflict, of all against all. It follows, then, that order is more important than freedom, since without order there is no freedom for anybody.

the founding fathers wanted ordered liberty as the golden mean between tyranny and anarchy

[heartwood]

Where did I just read, that Kissinger said mixing peoples with fundamentally different values and cultures would not work.

So he opened the West to China, figuring China would shift towards friendliness and freedom. He was wrong.

And although he was right about unselective immigration, I don’t believe he ever tried to stop it.

[conservativeimage]

deadge

[Sertorius]

Order should begin with the family. The more order a family has in an organic way, the more freedom a society can enjoy, If order in the family breaks down, then the state steps in and freedom dies.

[Wuli]

Kissinger was too much a “pragmatist”.

Contraray to Kissinger:

Neither disorder nor injustice should be accepted and neither one is “better” above the other. Disoder itself is an injustice.

Order is not more important than freedom, it must come with Freedom and order without Freedom is pure injustice. Order for the mere sake of order is another word for tyranny.

The fundamental issue in international and domestic affairs IS both the control of wickedness and the limitation of self-righteousness. It is not a matter of putting one over the other - it requires a commitment minimizing both. Wickedness no less than an abumdance of self-righteousness can lead to war and BOTH contribute to the most extreme forms of repression, both at home and abroad.

[Migraine]

Howard Johnson: “You know, Nietzche said ‘Out of chaos comes order.’”