by Greg Grandin
First published 2015
Historian Greg Grandin examines Henry Kissinger's enduring impact on American foreign policy and political culture. Grandin draws from Kissinger's personal writings and recently declassified government documents to trace how Nixon's foreign policy advisor transformed American diplomacy. Even while managing the Vietnam War's conclusion and conducting secret military operations in Cambodia, Kissinger developed a new framework for American global power centered on presidential authority. He prioritized instinct over evidence in policy decisions and refused to let previous failures constrain future military interventions. Grandin demonstrates how these principles laid the groundwork for neoconservative thinking that later drove wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The book moves past simple praise or criticism of Kissinger to analyze his role in creating America's current approach to international relations. Grandin connects Kissinger's influence to ongoing American military conflicts overseas and domestic political divisions. The author offers readers a fresh perspective on how one diplomat's vision continues to shape how the United States engages with the world.
Genres: biography, history, 20th-century, political-science, non-fiction, 21st-century, academic, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Setting: Cambodia, United States
Period: Cold War, Vietnam War
224 pages · Unknown Binding · Metropolitan Books