In 1957 Dr. Kissinger published his PHD dissertation titled A World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh and the Problems of the Peace 1812-1822
In a startling summation, Kissinger wrote:
Metternich's thus became a never-ending quest for a moment of tranquillity, for a suspension, if only for an instant, of the flux of life, so that what happened, perhaps inevitably, could be represented as a universal principle instead of an assertion of will and of indeterminacy. It was as if a physicist, unable to measure both position and velocity of the electron accurately, bent all his energies to making the electron hold still, if only for a fraction of a second, because this would enable him to chart its course for eternity.
This analysis of Metternich's perspective on the modern Hapsburg monarchy--a sort of striving to achieve "the end of history" contrasts uniquely with the influence of Henry Kissinger in the shaping of a post cold war America and his influence and emulation as a modern day Metternich.
public domain image
Be careful what you wish for because it may come true.
Catering to the Republican elites of the last 35 years. The personal confidante of Presidents, Monarchs, Dictators,Prime Ministers and social elites, Henry Kissinger is one of the instrumental architects of current day American Diplomacy and Hegemony.
Henry Kissinger's blueprints to the opening of China, detente with the Soviet Union, his political and social hegemony in South America leading to the rise of Leftist Socialist Democracies or anti-liberalists and now his advisement to yet another floundering and incoherent Republican President; are a testament to his idealization of the diplomatic struggles of Mettenich catering to 19th century world of Monarchal elites and colonial empires.
This photograph of the work is also in the public domain in the United States
(It is interesting to note Metternichs advisement to the feeble minded Ferdinand I, Emperor of Austria and Kissinger's advisement to Nixon and Bush. )
After wading through countless documents and diplomatic terminologies, I decided to offer some definition of terms so as to consolidate into an essay, the many diplomatic and political ideologies that can clog the understanding of Diplomacy.
What is Liberalism?
Liberalism is probably an expression of humankind’s attempt, not just to preserve, but also enhance the appearance of civilization. Liberalism is the attempt to entrench a level of elevation and enrichment to human existence, by subjecting man to an equal, non-discriminatory, and at times demanding, law of nature. It is an expression of the hopeful desire to seek a perpetual peace, a Wilsonian expression of the determination to "bring peace and safety to all mankind and make the world itself at last free." Our Declaration of Independence is based on the rights of man and Natural law derived from the writings of Aristotle and later Thomas Hobbes.
For in terms quintessentially Wilsonian, the organizing principle of Natural law, the rights of man and modern diplomacy has been the
"refusal to confine her enthusiasm for individual liberty and free national development to incidents and movement of affairs within her boundaries, for if she did confine this conception and purpose of making men free to within her borders, then all her fame would be gone and all her power dissipated." In Diplomacy, Kissinger, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994).
It is a sentiment that Alexander the Great or a Napoleon or a George Bush would have had no difficulty comprehending. For they would have argued that universal extension of power - and its claim to legitimacy, is the price a dominant power has to pay to guarantee the very integrity of its own being, interests and values.
What is Neo-Liberalism?
The concept of economic liberalism or market liberalism underpinned the move towards a free market capitalist economic system in the late 18th century, and the subsequent demise of the mercantilist system. Today, the liberal theory of economics is strongly associated with libertarianism, conservative liberalism and some schools of conservatism, particularly liberal conservatism. Wikipedia
Whew!
Is it possible to postulate from that twisted definition that a classical diplomatic Internaltionalist Wilsonian Liberalism linked to a Clintonian Neo-Liberalism of Global Trade linked further to a Neoconservative militarism of Bushite unilateralism has precipitated a Great Global American Empire of corporate Imperialism?
Or are we building and implementing a evolving Empirical and elitist diplomacy?
Call me a pessimist... but I believe we have witnessed the near collapse of the principles of our Republic in our lifetimes. Only a realignment of the doctrines of Empire vs. Sustainable Community, Macroeconomics vs. microeconomics, Corporatism vs. Small Business, Oil vs. Green Technology, Education vs. Mythology, Rich vs Poor can restore Democratic principles of justice, freedom and true American values. The synthesis and resolution of these seeming contradictions of Global Hegemony are the only alternatives to the pseudo-intellectual panderings of the Super Diplomats in the control of the State Department for forty years.
When Henry Kissinger was made Chairman of the 9-11 commission in 2002, I knew that the resurrection of Mettenich was manifest. His recent testimony in the Senate was superficial and patronizing.
In this society of physical images, pictures, propaganda, sound bites and cloistered diplomatic deals, I wonder if we as a people will ever be able to think for ourselves again.
I leave you the words of the infamous diplomat Metternich:
I speak to you from a place where, more than anywhere else, I can appreciate the success of the efforts of the Government to influence the public. The newspapers are worth to Napoleon an army of three hundred thousand men, for such a force would not overlook the interior better, or frighten foreign Powers more, than half a dozen of his paid pamphleteers. Memoirs