The iconic Henry Kissinger

The passing of former US State Secretary Henry Kissinger last Wednesday at the age of 100 drew diverse reactions across the globe. For many, Kissinger is remembered as a colossal figure with a massive intellect, described as a “master of realpolitik” and regarded as “the most powerful diplomat of the Cold War era,” but some reviled him over alleged human rights violations during the Vietnam war.

I first met Henry Kissinger in December 1975 during the visit of President Gerald Ford to the Philippines, where he was part of the official US delegation, being the National Security Adviser and Secretary of State.

As a news reporter for RPN 9 during those days, it was certainly such a privilege to meet the man who laid the groundwork for the opening of relations between China and the United States, leading to the historic visit of President Richard Nixon to China in 1972. A bespectacled man who spoke with a gravelly voice and a guttural accent, Henry Kissinger was a commanding figure whose aura made him dominate a room with his mesmerizing presence.

On another occasion, I saw Kissinger in March 1997 when he visited Manila for a four-day lecture tour where he talked about the American tendency to “mix extensively in domestic affairs,” but explained this as a manifestation of “American idealism” during his speech at the University of the Philippines where he received an honorary Doctorate of Laws degree.

“You have to remember that America is a young nation, only 200 years old, and that when we deal with countries like China or India, we tend to forget that they’ve managed to get along for 5,000 years without advice from the United States. But with all this enthusiasm, it is also a reflection of American idealism,” the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize winner told his audience.

At the same venue, he also spoke about China, admitting that he does not know what it will do in 10 to 15 years – yet emphasizing that the US should “remain dedicated to the freedom of our traditional friends,” while expressing the belief that “there is so much to be done inside China and that military conquest is the least likely consequence of Chinese growth.”

There are those who would certainly challenge this statement of the late US State Secretary given recent developments, in particular China’s show of military might when it fired missiles over Taiwan in July last year and its growing nuclear arsenal expected to have over 1,000 warheads by 2030, according to the latest China Military Power Report released by the US Department of Defense.

It can be recalled that Kissinger had warned in 2019 that the US and China were in the “foothills of a Cold War” due to heightened tensions partly caused by a trade war, with the US imposing tariffs on Chinese goods  and China retaliating by stopping the purchase of US agricultural products. “If conflict is permitted to run unconstrained, the outcome could be even worse than it was in Europe,” said Kissinger, cautioning that “World War I broke out because a relatively minor crisis could not be mastered.”

I was invited to speak at the Institute of World Peace in January 2020, where I referred to the assertion of the man credited for shaping US foreign policy for decades that it was “especially important that a period of relative tension be followed by an explicit effort to understand what the political causes are and a commitment by both sides to try to overcome those.”

In my remarks, I pointed out that in an environment of heightened competition between the United States and China, the inherent value of ASEAN centrality should be recognized in affairs relative to the Indo-Pacific region because this can build confidence, deepen integration and foster unity among ourselves and hopefully, among our dialogue partners as well – the US and China included.

The last time I met Henry Kissinger was in New York in September last year during the official visit of President Marcos Jr. to the United Nations. We joined  the President in his private meeting with Kissinger. They both obviously knew each other since the days of the President’s father. PBBM listened intently to the man regarded as a “giant of statecraft” who, even at 99, was still as sharp as ever, sharing insights on geopolitics and the major challenges the world faces. The President was especially pleased about the meeting, even posting on social media describing Kissinger as “an absolute rockstar.”

Considered an icon of diplomacy, Kissinger in his lifetime cut a controversial figure, some calling him an egotistical man who thought the world centered around him. In his younger days, he developed a reputation for being a ladies’ man and reportedly dated Hollywood celebrities such as Liv Ullman, Candice Bergen, Shirley MacLaine, Jill St. John, Marlo Thomas and Zsa Zsa Gabor – which earned him the title of “Washington’s greatest swinger.”

Yet for all the derision and contempt piled upon him even in death, with detractors labeling him as a “war criminal,” there is no denying that many more considered Henry Kissinger a “colossus on the world stage,” as a Foreign Policy article described him.

Perhaps former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said it best in his tribute to the man known as a master of the geopolitical chessboard: “Like anyone who has confronted the most difficult problems of international politics, he was criticized at times, even denounced. But I believe he was always motivated not from a coarse ‘realpolitik,’ but from a genuine love of the free world and the need to protect it.”

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