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drset's review against another edition
5.0
This book is essential to understand the world we live on. Its an incredible perspective on western history of the past 4 centuries, that you don't get on school.
Kissinger explains in a clear and very accesible language the way that concepts like "Raison d'État", "Realpolitik", "Balance of power" and "Spheres of influence" have shaped the world we live in.
Kissinger explains in a clear and very accesible language the way that concepts like "Raison d'État", "Realpolitik", "Balance of power" and "Spheres of influence" have shaped the world we live in.
dimitribelgium's review against another edition
4.0
This book places the birth of diplomacy in the 17th century, but is mostly concerned with the past 200 years. In this respect it adds a refreshing perspective to my fields of interest. Highlights such as the Vienna Congres that would disintegrate in dull details at book length are presented crisply. The sections on pre-war Great Power diplomacy & the Versailles Treaty are strong even if it's simply impossible to tell the complete story; by the logic of Clausewitz it's just a bit odd to omit the wartime completely. This is not the case for WWII, where the wartime summits cannot be separated from the larger origin story of the Cold War. Needless to say, with Henry Kissinger behind the pen, that from Vietnam on, the text is at its strongest. It would be nice to get a second edition that includes a perspective on the War on Terror era up to the Arab Spring. I wouldn't, however, call this 'elegantly written' : Kissinger tends to repeat himself a lot.
iterdei's review against another edition
4.0
Loved the first half of this which was a wonderful historical analysis of - albeit only Western - diplomacy.
From the chapters on the Vietnam war onwards, the book became very focused on the USA point of view. It became basically solely focused on the dynamics around US foreign policy and their "opponent" the USSR, analysis on other parties was very limited. A bit of a let down in that sense. Although understandable because of the cold war and the personal experiences of the author, I missed the slightly more holistic view of the earlier chapters.
The first time the EU was mentioned was in the final chapter (which I - because of my own bias - found rather bizarre). Final chapter was a "look to the future" with foreign policy advice for the USA, which was interesting to read now that it is actually "the future" 30 years after publication of this book.
TLDR: good analysis, shows the depth of historical knowledge of the author which can be applied to diplomacy currently but second half mostly interesting when you want to know about the USA policy only.
From the chapters on the Vietnam war onwards, the book became very focused on the USA point of view. It became basically solely focused on the dynamics around US foreign policy and their "opponent" the USSR, analysis on other parties was very limited. A bit of a let down in that sense. Although understandable because of the cold war and the personal experiences of the author, I missed the slightly more holistic view of the earlier chapters.
The first time the EU was mentioned was in the final chapter (which I - because of my own bias - found rather bizarre). Final chapter was a "look to the future" with foreign policy advice for the USA, which was interesting to read now that it is actually "the future" 30 years after publication of this book.
TLDR: good analysis, shows the depth of historical knowledge of the author which can be applied to diplomacy currently but second half mostly interesting when you want to know about the USA policy only.
skinnybutfast's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent aerial brief covering the development of modern western foreign policy. Transitions from historian account from the Richelieu period to first hand experience onward from the late cold-war. Highly recommended for crash course in statecraft culture.
midniqhtr42's review against another edition
[insert witty comment that eloquently sums up my ambivalence regarding Kissinger the historical figure versus Kissinger surprisingly engaging author]
neuroqueer_af's review against another edition
3.0
Good but long-winded. tl;dr The US takes a moral approach to geopolitics. The rest of the world doesn't get it. The US doesn't get that the rest of the world doesn't get it. Yay.