The former head of the U.S. Department of state Henry Kissinger believes that Russia should be perceived as an integral element of any new global balance. Their point of view ex-Secretary of state stated in an article in the newspaper The National Interest.
Kissinger is convinced that any effort to improve relations between Russia and the USA must include a dialogue on world order. Therefore, in his opinion, countries should develop a “strategic partnership concept in which the point of contention could be managed”.
Such a measure would help to ensure that will be identified and the roles that each country intends to play in shaping this new order and will be agreed different concepts of approach to it, says the former head of the state Department.
The current relationship between the U.S. and Russia are now much worse than they were ten years ago, says Kissinger. “They probably even worse than they were before the end of the cold war,” he added. According to him, many experts in both countries rejected the possibility that the U.S. and Russia can cooperate on establishing a new world order and believe that Moscow and Washington “have entered a new cold war”.
The former head of the state Department calls the unprecedented nature of the current instability in the world. According to him, today the threats occur against the backdrop of the destruction of state power and the growing number of uncontrolled territories. Such problems cannot be solved by one country, no matter how strong it may be, says Kissinger. In his view, the current agenda requires ongoing collaboration USA with Russia and other major powers.
Kissinger thinks Ukraine should be integrated into the structure of European and international security so that it has become a bridge between Russia and the West, and not an Outpost of one of the parties. Compatible efforts by the U.S. and Russia in Syria, coordinated with other major powers, can create a model for peaceful settlement of the conflict not only in the middle East but probably in other places, says Kissinger.
He notes that over the past few years, Washington and Moscow cooperated only sporadically, and great progress was made. “This is not surprising, since the debate was conducted outside of the agreed strategic format,” said the former head of the state Department.
Two days ago, January 3, Kissinger was in Russia, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The head of state took the former head of the state Department in his residence in Novo-Ogaryovo. The President’s press Secretary Dmitry Peskov, announcing a meeting with journalists, said that “Putin and Kissinger have longstanding relationships, they are constantly communicating” and “Putin cherishes” the opportunity to discuss current world problems.
Previously, Kissinger and Putin met again. Their previous meeting took place in Moscow in 2013.
Kissinger began his political career in 1968, when U.S. President Richard Nixon appointed him as his national security adviser. From 1973 to 1977, Kissinger was U.S. Secretary of state. In 1973 he together with the Vietnamese diplomat Le Duc tho received the Nobel peace prize for the conclusion of negotiations on ending the war in Vietnam.
According to a survey conducted in the USA in 2015 among experts in the field of international relations, Kissinger was named the most effective Secretary of state over the last 50 years, voted for by 32.2% of respondents. The current Secretary of state John Kerry picked up only 0.3% of the vote.
