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The Inevitability of Tragedy: Henry Kissinger and His World
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About This Book
The Inevitability of Tragedy is a fascinating intellectual biography of Henry Kissinger that examines his unique role in government through his ideas. It analyzes the continuing controversies surrounding Kissinger's policies in such places as Vietnam and Chile by offering an understanding of his definition of realism; his seemingly amoral belief that foreign affairs must be conducted through a balance of power; and his "un-American" view that promoting democracy is most likely to result in repeated defeats for the United States. Barry Gewen places Kissinger's ideas in a European context by tracing them through his experience as a refugee from Nazi Germany and exploring the links between his notions of power and those of his mentor, Hans Morgenthau, the father of realism, as well as those of two other German-Jewish émigrés who shared his concerns about the weaknesses of democracy: Leo Strauss and Hannah Arendt.
Reviews
"The inevitability of tragedy helps them to excuse their blunders and outrages as necessary costs of braving what Donald Rumsfeld memorably called the 'unknown unknowns' that bedevil all grand strategists ..."
"...Gewen offers a biography focused on the major historical and philosophical influences on Kissinger's approach to diplomacy ..."
"Masterly work on the making of Henry Kissinger—and what American foreign policy can learn from his dark experience and pessimistic outlook ..."
"Gewen's defense of some of Kissinger's policies, however...isn't always convincing."
"Through detailed analyses of Kissinger's policy decisions on Vietnam and Chile, the influence of his personal life on his professional worldview, and the views of other Jewish European refugee intellectuals, Gewen offers a better understanding of Kissinger's ability to challenge people to rethink their assumptions ..."
"But for all of the merits that Gewen identifies in Kissinger, realism, too, is no guarantee against delusion."
"A solid companion to Thomas Schwartz's Henry Kissinger and American Power."
"Army, to academia, to the inner circles of power in Washington."
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