-About this book
Henry Kissinger, consummate diplomat and statesman, examines the strategies of six great twentieth-century figures and brings to life a unifying theory of leadership and diplomacy
“Leaders,” writes Henry Kissinger in this compelling book, “think and act at the intersection of two axes: the first, between the past and the future; the second, between the abiding values and aspirations of those they lead. They must balance what they know, which is necessarily drawn from the past, with what they intuit about the future, which is inherently conjectural and uncertain. It is this intuitive grasp of direction that enables leaders to set objectives and lay down a strategy.”
In Leadership, Kissinger analyses the lives of six extraordinary leaders through the distinctive strategies of statecraft, which he believes they embodied. After the Second World War, Konrad Adenauer brought defeated and morally bankrupt Germany back into the community of nations by what Kissinger calls “the strategy of humility.” Charles de Gaulle set France beside the victorious Allies and renewed its historic grandeur by “the strategy of will.” During the Cold War, Richard Nixon gave geostrategic advantage to the United States by “the strategy of equilibrium.” After twenty-five years of conflict, Anwar Sadat brought a vision of peace to the Middle East by a “strategy of transcendence.” Against the odds, Lee Kuan Yew created a powerhouse city-state, Singapore, by “the strategy of excellence.” And, though Britain was known as “the sick man of Europe” when Margaret Thatcher came to power, she renewed her country’s morale and international position by “the strategy of conviction.”
To each of these studies, Kissinger brings historical perception, public experience and—because he knew each of the subjects and participated in many of the events he describes—personal knowledge. Leadership is enriched by insights and judgements that only Kissinger could make and concludes with his reflections on world order and the indispensability of leadership today.
-Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
The Axes of Leadership • The Nature of Leadership Decisions • Six Leaders in their Context • Epitomes of Leadership: The Statesman and the Prophet • The Individual in History
1-Konrad Adenauer: The Strategy of Humility
The Necessity of Renewal • From Early Life to Internal Exile • The Road to Leadership • The Restoration of Civil Order and the Inauguration of the Chancellor • The Path to a New National Identity • The Soviet Challenge and Rearmament • The Inextricable Past: Reparations to the Jewish People • Two Crises: Suez and Berlin • Three Conversations with Adenauer • German Unification: The Tormenting Wait • Final Conversations • The Adenauer Tradition
2-Charles de Gaulle: The Strategy of Will
Close Encounters • The Beginning of the Journey • The Sources and Aims of de Gaulle’s Conduct • De Gaulle in the History of France • De Gaulle and the Second World War • North African Contest • Achieving Political Power • A Visit to Moscow • De Gaulle and the Provisional Government • The Desert • Failure in Indochina and Frustration in the Middle East • Algeria and the Return of de Gaulle • The Fifth Republic • The End of the Algerian Conflict • Germany as a Key to French Policy: De Gaulle and Adenauer • De Gaulle and the Atlantic Alliance • The Nuclear Directorate • Flexible Response and Nuclear Strategy • What Is an Alliance? • The End of the Presidency • The Nature of de Gaulle’s Statesmanship • De Gaulle and Churchill Compared • Behind the Mystery
3-Richard Nixon: The Strategy of Equilibrium
The World to Which Nixon Came • An Unforeseen Invitation • National Security Decision-making in the Nixon White House • Nixon’s Worldview • Diplomacy and Linkage • A Trip to Europe • The Vietnam War and its Conclusion • Great Power Diplomacy and Arms Control • Emigration from the Soviet Union • The Opening to China • The Middle East in Turmoil • The 1973 Middle East War • The Diplomacy of Ceasefire • The Middle East Peace Process • Bangladesh and the Interlocking Cold War • Nixon and the American Crisis
4-Anwar Sadat: The Strategy of Transcendence
The Special Quality of Anwar Sadat • The Impact of History • Early Life • Contemplations in Prison • Egypt’s Independence • Mouthpiece of the Revolution • Nasser and Sadat • Sadat’s Perspective • The Corrective Revolution • Strategic Patience • The 1973 War • Meir and Sadat • The Meeting at the Tahra Palace • From Geneva to Disengagement • The Syrian Dimension • Another Step Toward Peace: The Sinai II Agreement • Sadat’s Journey to Jerusalem • The Tortuous Road to Peace • The Unraveling • Assassination • Epilogue: The Unrealized Legacy
5-Lee Kuan Yew: The Strategy of Excellence
A Visit to Harvard • The Giant from Lilliput • Imperial Youth • Building a State • Building a Nation • ‘Let History Judge’ • Building an Economy • Lee and America • Lee and China • Between the US and China • Lee’s Legacy • Lee the Person
6-Margaret Thatcher: The Strategy of Conviction
A Most Unlikely Leader • Thatcher and the British System • The Challenges Ahead: Britain in the 1970s • The Ascent from Grantham • A Framework for Leadership • The Economic Reformer • In Defense of Sovereignty: The Falklands Conflict • Negotiations over Hong Kong • Confronting a Legacy of Violence: Northern Ireland • Fundamental Truths: The ‘Special Relationship’ and the Cold War • A Problem in Grenada • A Strategic Shift: East–West Engagement • Defending Kuwaiti Sovereignty: The Gulf Crisis • The Limits to Leadership: Germany and the Future of Europe • Europe, the Endless Difficulty • The Fall • Epilogue
Conclusion: The Evolution of Leadership
From Aristocracy to Meritocracy • Hard Truths • The Faltering Meritocracy • Deep Literacy and Visual Culture • Underlying Values • Leadership and World Order • The Future of Leadership
Index
-Caractéristiques
Date d’édition :5juillet 2022
Éditeur : Penguin Press
Langue : Anglais
N.B de pages : 528 pages
ISBN-10 : 0241542006
ISBN-13 : 978-0241542002
Poids de l’article : 361 g
Dimensions : 16.2 x 3.6 x 24 cm
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