The man retains -- for a part -- the ear of the greats of this world and skilfully distills his advice in geopolitics: the former American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who celebrates his 100th birthday on Saturday, fascinates and still divides .
Visionary for some, "war criminal" for others, the "wise man" with a curved silhouette but still recognizable by his large frame of dark glasses remains active.
The former head of the American diplomacy participated Tuesday in a tribute for his 100 years at the very select Economic Club of New York, blowing out candles on a chocolate cake.
His public appearances have become rare over the years, and most often by videoconference as in Davos last January, but for anyone who will have left his mark on the foreign policy of the United States in the second half of the 20th century, this longevity is exceptional.
And he maintains, from his offices in New York and his consulting firm Kissinger Associates, a relative aura with the elite in Washington and abroad, including among Democrats like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who said one day "to rely on the advice" of his "friend".
A key player in world diplomacy during the Cold War, this Nobel Peace Prize laureate initiated the rapprochement with Moscow and Beijing in the 1970s, with a pragmatic vision of the world, a sort of American-style "Realpolitik". .
In a sign that his vision of the world has hardly changed, he felt on Tuesday in front of his guests that the United States had to defend their "vital interests".
"We must always be stronger in order to resist any pressure," he said.
Or even on the war in Ukraine when he advocates a ceasefire. "We have reached a point where we have fulfilled our strategic objective. Russia's military attempt to absorb Ukraine has failed."
But the image of the man with the gravelly voice and the strong accent inherited from his German origins remains tarnished and linked to dark pages in the history of the United States, such as support for the 1973 coup in Chile. or the 1975 invasion of East Timor and, of course, Vietnam.
“To me, there is no doubt that his policy has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and destroyed democracy in many countries,” notes Reed Kalman Brody, a lawyer specializing in human rights.
"I'm amazed he got away with it," he added.
He has in fact never been worried by the courts, a complaint having been dismissed in 2004.
In an investigation published Wednesday, The Intercept, a journalistic investigative site, claims on the basis of Pentagon archival documents and testimonies from survivors that the American bombing campaign in Cambodia between 1969 and 1973, of which Henry Kissinger was the architect, had been greatly underestimated causing far more civilian deaths than previously admitted.
Dhaka University historian Muntassir Mamoon points out that Mr. Kissinger "actively supported the genocide in Bangladesh" in 1971.
"I see no reason to praise Kissinger," he said, adding that his view was shared in many countries, including Vietnam.
"The irony is that we remember that he made peace but we forget all that he did to prolong the war not only in Vietnam, but in Cambodia and Laos", adds historian Carolyn Eisenberg, from Hofstra University in the United States.
The young German Jew Heinz Alfred Kissinger was born on May 27, 1923 in Fürth, Bavaria. He took refuge at the age of 15 in the United States with his family before being naturalized American at the age of 20.
The son of a teacher, he joined the military counterintelligence and the American army before beginning brilliant studies at Harvard, where he also taught.
He established himself as the face of world diplomacy when Republican Richard Nixon called him to the White House in 1969 as national security adviser, then as secretary of state -- he held both positions from 1973 to 1975. , and remained master of diplomacy under Gerald Ford until 1977.
It was then that he launched the détente with the Soviet Union and the thawing of relations with Mao's China, during secret trips to organize Nixon's historic visit to Beijing in 1972.
He also conducts, always in the greatest secrecy and in parallel with the bombardments of Hanoi, negotiations with Le Duc Tho to end the Vietnam War.
The signing of a ceasefire won him the Nobel Peace Prize with the North Vietnamese in 1973, one of the most controversial in the history of the Nobel.
26/05/2023 08:48:51 - Washington (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
