Henry Kissinger: An era-defining failure

Nobody who handed the Chinese Communist Party a century of dominance can possibly be remembered as a strategic genius

Much discussion of Henry Kissinger’s life and impact has focused on the evil he committed or enabled — from Cambodia, to Vietnam, to Chile, to Bangladesh. This is understandable. But what it ignores or downplays is how he was also bad at his job. Kissinger had a long life, and eventually survived to see all his big calls shown up as era-defining errors. Oddly, however, this seems to have had no effect on his reputation as a strategic visionary.

It is easy to forget that Kissinger possessed real power, as a senior official, only for six years between 1969 and