Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy
Book by Henry Kissinger
DETAILS
Publisher : Penguin Press (July 5, 2022) Language : English Hardcover : 528 pages ISBN-10 : 0593489446 ISBN-13 : 978-0593489444 Item Weight : 1.8 pounds Dimensions : 6.5 x 1.52 x 9.55 inches Best Sellers Rank: #7,234 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #19 in International & World Politics (Books) #22 in US Presidents #36 in Military Leader Biographies , An instant New York Times bestseller 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 “An extraordinary book, one that braids together two through lines in the long and distinguished career of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger...In Leadership he presents a fascinating set of historical case studies and political biographies that blend the dance and the dancer, seamlessly.” - James Stavridis, The Wall Street Journal “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. Read more
REVIEW
It is remarkable at how lucid Kissinger's writing remains at his current age but Leadership is a fine addition to his recent contributions. It Is an overview of 6 leaders with whom he had direct interaction (though to varying degrees) in the post WWII period. The study includes Adenauer in reconstruction Germany, de Gaulle both during and after WWII, Nixon (for whom he was of course most interactive), Anwar Sadat , Lee Kuan Yew and finally Margaret Thatcher. Each was a great leader for different reasons, guiding their populace through challenging times to achieve strategic goals that required conviction and dynamism. Today we seem lacking in such leadership and have for some time. Despite that not being the explicit point of the book, the character descriptions we get from this are a reminder that in challenging times the qualities of great leadership can have generational impact. The book is largely chronological and starts with Konrad Adenauer, the founder of the CDU, the foundational democratic party in the aftermath of WWII. Kissinger details his life and his moral principles that determined his character and world view. Adenauer was exiled from Germany in the Third Reich but returned to try to unify a broken people and was a leader who wanted the population to come to grips with its history as well as build a new foundation for a revived future under more traditional Christian values. Kissinger discusses how Adenauer guided the company and the political terrain in the aftermath of the war as well as attempted to guide Germany and Europe into greater unification despite the historical baggage. Kissinger moves on to his contemporary de Gaulle, a completely different character who also guided France during times of extreme challenges. Charles de Gaulle attempted to gain legitimacy as the leader of the France who had been politically disenfranchised and the true resistence to Nazi Germany. Kissinger discusses how his personal amplification of his relevance on the global arena was of constant annoyance to the true leaders of the War effort like Churchill and Roosevelt but despite his outsized self image he used it to better the lot of France and its relevance in the post war era. Furthermore his leadership in the war period led to his assumption of leadership in its aftermath. Kissinger discusses at length the challenges de Gaulle met and navigated successfully including the dissolution of the empire and in particular Algeria. Kissinger spends significant time discussing Nixon who of course hired Kissinger first as National Security advisor but later as Secretary of State. Kissinger is highly favorable of Nixon's geopolitical acumen and his ability to understand the complex landscape but to distill it to the relevant core principles to be decided upon. He also reflects about the character flaws of Nixon that ultimately led to his resignation and the challenges of unwinding the involvement in Vietnam. But Kissinger focuses on the major achievements including resurrecting relations with China. Kissinger spends time on Andwar Sadat and his highly principled and strategic vision of creating a more peaceful Middle East with stability with Israel, which at the time, and even now remained anathema to many around him. Following Nasser, his tenure was assumed to be short but Sadat was a true leader of vision and worked tirelessly to incrementally step back from the brink with Israel that ultimately led to more stability. Despite much frustration with his political peers Sadat stuck to the principles of prioritizing peace to achieve strides that would have otherwise been unachievable. Kissinger also spends a chapter on Lee Kuan Yew who took Singapore from an irrelevant island connected to Malaysia to a world class city that attracted the best of talents. Such a trend continues today with the relative decline of Hong Kong. The utilitarian principles of Lee are discussed and his ultimate pragmatism to generate results while remaining proper in action was shown to be the critical pillars of his character and strategy. The wisdom and lessons of his leadership remain of utmost importance even today where his warnings about the non-universality as well as relevance of China's strength were appreciated early and vocally. Kissinger ends with Margaret Thatcher who guided the UK through the inflationary aftermath of the oil shock and its unionized labor into the more productive UK that carried a new torch in the 90s and into the first decade of 2000s. He discusses navigating the Falklands as well as the HK handover and how her conviction and principles guided her through exceptionally challenging times to leave Britain measurably stronger and more stable. Her eventual downfall was tragic and seemed to be of superficial substance but nonetheless her legacy of strength of character was an aid in the end of Cold War era that increased the relevance of Britain on the global scale. Leadership in Six Studies is an overview of great leaders from the perspective of Kissinger in the post WWII era. Obviously it is subjective and a function of the author's direct interaction with this cohort, which says just as much about the author himself. But nonetheless the character profiles are compelling in their description of what it took to be a great leader and why the characters chosen were great. They each faced unique challenges and had unique personalities but despite the difference in circumstances and character all helped their people achieve better outcomes and left the world a better place than they encountered it. Definitely an enjoyable and informative read.
DOWNLOAD PAGE
留言列表
