Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy is an English-language book on international relations by Henry Kissinger, published by Penguin Books on April 28, 2022. It presents a treatise on governance and political leaders through six exemplary individuals from the 20th century. Upon its release, the book received mixed reviews.
Overview
The book begins with the introduction, which is a short essay on leadership and statesmanship. Kissinger identifies courage and strength of character as the most important qualities of political leaders. After that, the following chapters present political leaders whom Henry Kissinger classifies as significant leaders. All of them governed in the second half of the 20th century and were personally acquainted with the author, in some cases even friends with him.
Konrad Adenauer: The Strategy of Humility
Konrad Adenauer came to power in the destroyed post-war Germany at a relatively old age. He came from the Catholic Rhineland and was an experienced politician who had served as mayor of the city of Cologne during the Weimar Republic. He was able to successfully communicate the new political order to the population and thus made a decisive contribution to West Germany regaining its sovereignty. Adenauer favored the integration of West Germany into the West over a possible German reunification, even in the face of domestic political opposition. He thus established the basis for the economic miracle and a stable democracy in the country. Kissinger praises him as a person who established a new political tradition in Germany out of difficult circumstances.
Charles de Gaulle: The Strategy of Will
The author evaluates Charles de Gaulle as a political personality with a strong will and an unconditional historical mission to initiate the political and social renewal of France. After the defeat of France against Nazi Germany in 1940, he built up his own army in exile and became the leader of Free France. In doing so, he demanded to speak on equal terms with the Allies, even though his homeland was occupied. At the end of World War II, he reached the top of the state, but resigned when the newly established state did not agree with his ideas. After a state crisis during the Algerian War, De Gaulle returned and established the Fifth Republic in 1958. He succeeded in ending the Algerian War and, as a formative figure, re-established France as an independent political power.
Richard Nixon: The Strategy of Equilibrium
Richard Nixon became the 37th President of the United States in 1969 and made Kissinger, an academic, his National security advisor. According to the author, Nixon changed his initially isolationist views in his life to the concept of a balance of powers. Therefore, he visited the People's Republic of China in 1972 and began the Ping-pong diplomacy to balance against the Soviet Union. The integration of China into the international system is judged by the author to be a major historical achievement and a crucial turning point of the Cold War. Nixon also initiated the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam, conducted peace negotiations in the Middle East, and, in the author's observation, was able to avert an international crisis in the Bangladesh war. Nixon was forced to resign in 1974 as part of the Watergate scandal, which Kissinger calls a "tragedy."
Anwar Sadat: The Strategy of Transcendence
After the death of the popular Gamal Abdel Nasser, his close confidant Anwar Sadat became Egypt's president in 1970. Sadat, who was widely underestimated, was not initially expected to hold his own in this position. Thanks to clever political maneuvering, however, he succeeded in consolidating his position. As president, Sadat initiated economic liberalization and a foreign policy shift away from the Soviet Union. He was able to strengthen his position in peace negotiations with Israel with a surprise attack on the Israeli-occupied Sinai Peninsula. In 1979, he concluded the Israel-Egypt peace treaty, in which Egypt gained control of the Sinai in return for diplomatic recognition of Israel. However, the agreement isolated Sadat in the Arab world and cost him his life when he was assassinated by Islamists in a 1981 attack.