On Kissinger
There will be light blogging today as I head from DC to Minneapolis for RightOnLine. A few thoughts on Henry Kissinger.
One, an hour to listen to him talk about China is way to short a time and I, and I’m certain everyone else in the room, could have spent at least a day questioning him. He impressed me as a very deep thinker in the strategic sense and he made the point that one of the primary differences between China and the US (among many) is the fact that the Chinese culture and history produce many strategic thinkers and planners while they’re actually few a and far between in the West. When asked to name foreign policy strategic thinkers in the US at the moment he was at a bit of a loss.
Anyway, I recorded the whole interview and want to take the time to go through it and write it up.
I also had a chance to read parts of the book. It’s fascinating. You have to remember this was a man who had many one-on-one discussions with Mao. In fact, he said he originally planned to make the book about conversations he’d had with Chinese leaders, but it grew into one that covers the country’s history, culture and philosophies to help the reader better understand why the Chinese react to events as they do. Like I said above, fascinating stuff and interesting to read (at least the random parts I read – which tells me the entire book is like that.
Much more on this as time permits.
~McQ
Twitter: McQandO