Table Of Content

Cover Page: 1 Praise for WORLD ORDER Page: 2 About the Author Page: 3 Also by Henry Kissinger Page: 4 Title Page Page: 5 Copyright Page: 6 Contents Page: 7 Dedication Page: 8 INTRODUCTION: The Question of World Order Page: 9 Varieties of World Order Page: 9 Legitimacy and Power Page: 11 CHAPTER 1: Europe: The Pluralistic International Order Page: 12 The Uniqueness of the European Order Page: 12 The Thirty Years’ War: What Is Legitimacy? Page: 14 The Peace of Westphalia Page: 16 The Operation of the Westphalian System Page: 17 The French Revolution and Its Aftermath Page: 21 CHAPTER 2: The European Balance-of-Power System and Its End Page: 24 The Russian Enigma Page: 24 The Congress of Vienna Page: 27 The Premises of International Order Page: 29 Metternich and Bismarck Page: 31 The Dilemmas of the Balance of Power Page: 32 Legitimacy and Power Between the World Wars Page: 34 The Postwar European Order Page: 35 The Future of Europe Page: 36 CHAPTER 3: Islamism and the Middle East: A World in Disorder Page: 39 The Islamic World Order Page: 39 The Ottoman Empire: The Sick Man of Europe Page: 42 The Westphalian System and the Islamic World Page: 43 Islamism: The Revolutionary Tide—Two Philosophical Interpretations Page: 45 The Arab Spring and the Syrian Cataclysm Page: 46 The Palestinian Issue and International Order Page: 49 Saudi Arabia Page: 50 The Decline of the State? Page: 53 CHAPTER 4: The United States and Iran: Approaches to Order Page: 55 The Tradition of Iranian Statecraft Page: 55 The Khomeini Revolution Page: 56 Nuclear Proliferation and Iran Page: 58 Vision and Reality Page: 62 CHAPTER 5: The Multiplicity of Asia Page: 63 Asia and Europe: Different Concepts of Balance of Power Page: 63 Japan Page: 65 India Page: 68 What Is an Asian Regional Order? Page: 73 CHAPTER 6: Toward an Asian Order: Confrontation or Partnership? Page: 75 Asia’s International Order and China Page: 75 China and World Order Page: 77 A Longer Perspective Page: 79 CHAPTER 7: “Acting for All Mankind”: The United States and Its Concept of Order Page: 82 America on the World Stage Page: 83 Theodore Roosevelt: America as a World Power Page: 86 Woodrow Wilson: America as the World’s Conscience Page: 89 Franklin Roosevelt and the New World Order Page: 92 CHAPTER 8: The United States: Ambivalent Superpower Page: 95 The Beginning of the Cold War Page: 96 Strategies of a Cold War Order Page: 97 The Korean War Page: 99 Vietnam and the Breakdown of the National Consensus Page: 101 Richard Nixon and International Order Page: 103 The Beginning of Renewal Page: 105 Ronald Reagan and the End of the Cold War Page: 106 The Afghanistan and Iraq Wars Page: 108 The Purpose and the Possible Page: 111 CHAPTER 9: Technology, Equilibrium, and Human Consciousness Page: 112 World Order in the Nuclear Age Page: 112 The Challenge of Nuclear Proliferation Page: 114 Cyber Technology and World Order Page: 115 The Human Factor Page: 117 Foreign Policy in the Digital Era Page: 119 CONCLUSION: World Order in Our Time? Page: 122 The Evolution of International Order Page: 123 Where Do We Go from Here? Page: 125 Acknowledgments Page: 127 Notes Page: 128 Index Page: 144

Description:

“Dazzling and instructive . . . [a] magisterial new book.” —Walter Isaacson, Time "An astute analysis that illuminates many of today's critical international issues." —Kirkus Reviews Henry Kissinger offers in World Order a deep meditation on the roots of international harmony and global disorder. Drawing on his experience as one of the foremost statesmen of the modern era—advising presidents, traveling the world, observing and shaping the central foreign policy events of recent decades—Kissinger now reveals his analysis of the ultimate challenge for the twenty-first century: how to build a shared international order in a world of divergent historical perspectives, violent conflict, proliferating technology, and ideological extremism. There has never been a true “world order,” Kissinger observes. For most of history, civilizations defined their own concepts of order. Each considered itself the center of the world and envisioned its distinct principles as universally relevant. China conceived of a global cultural hierarchy with the emperor at its pinnacle. In Europe, Rome imagined itself surrounded by barbarians; when Rome fragmented, European peoples refined a concept of an equilibrium of sovereign states and sought to export it across the world. Islam, in its early centuries, considered itself the world’s sole legitimate political unit, destined to expand indefinitely until the world was brought into harmony by religious principles. The United States was born of a conviction about the universal applicability of democracy—a conviction that has guided its policies ever since. Now international affairs take place on a global basis, and these historical concepts of world order are meeting. Every region participates in questions of high policy in every other, often instantaneously. Yet there is no consensus among the major actors about the rules and limits guiding this process or its ultimate destination. The result is mounting tension. Grounded in Kissinger’s deep study of history and his experience as national security advisor and secretary of state, World Order guides readers through crucial episodes in recent world history. Kissinger offers a unique glimpse into the inner deliberations of the Nixon administration’s negotiations with Hanoi over the end of the Vietnam War, as well as Ronald Reagan’s tense debates with Soviet Premier Gorbachev in Reykjavík. He offers compelling insights into the future of U.S.–China relations and the evolution of the European Union, and he examines lessons of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Taking readers from his analysis of nuclear negotiations with Iran through the West’s response to the Arab Spring and tensions with Russia over Ukraine, World Order anchors Kissinger’s historical analysis in the decisive events of our time. Provocative and articulate, blending historical insight with geopolitical prognostication, World Order is a unique work that could come only from a lifelong policy maker and diplomat. Kissinger is also the author of On China.