Henry Kissinger: Now, back to defining a new world order

International Herald Tribune ^ | Nov. 6, 2004 | Henry A. Kissinger

[Ahriman]

The election campaign that has mesmerized America - and the world - is over. What remains are the challenges that gave rise to this occasionally frenzied battle and the responsibility of dealing with them. No president has faced an agenda of comparable scope. This is not hyperbole; it is the hand history has dealt this generation. Never before has it been necessary to conduct a war with neither front lines nor geographic definition and, at the same time, to rebuild fundamental principles of world order to replace the traditional ones that went up in the smoke of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. George W. Bush will have to lead an effort to define and then maintain an international system that reflects the new, revolutionary circumstances. I supported Bush during the campaign. But the United States cannot tackle this agenda except in the context of a commitment by all sides to healing. All concerned with the future must find ways to cooperate so that the world will again see Americans working toward a common destiny both at home and in the community of nations. It is to such an effort that this article seeks to make a contribution. No issue requires bipartisanship and international cooperation more urgently than the next phase of Iraq policy. If a radical government emerges in Baghdad - because the United States is defeated or tires of solitary exertions, even more if Iraq falls into terrorist chaos - the entire Islamic world will find itself in turmoil.

[dr_who_2]

Henry's delving into so much profundity, he's liable to make his fans love him more and his enemies love him less.

[Shady]

With all due respect Dr. K, we need to strengthen the Coalition of the Willing and defeat these predatorious murderers wherever they lurk. This is not your Internationalism that we are quite familiar with, it is Victory over Evil.

[NutCrackerBoy]

No issue requires bipartisanship and international cooperation more urgently than the next phase of Iraq policy. If a radical government emerges in Baghdad - because the United States is defeated or tires of solitary exertions, even more if Iraq falls into terrorist chaos - the entire Islamic world will find itself in turmoil...Other nations should find it in their interest to participate at least in the tasks of political and economic reconstruction. -Henry Kissinger

So, world, stop your dang hissy fits. Roll up your sleeves. Grab a root and dig.

[Tailgunner Joe]

"In our age, the rise of China as a potential superpower is of even greater historical significance, marking as it does a shift in the center of gravity of world affairs from the Atlantic to the Pacific."

"To be sure, China will not conduct as imprudent a policy as the Soviet Union, which threatened all its neighbors simultaneously and challenged the United States to a contest of survival. The special case of Taiwan aside, it will seek influence commensurate with its growth by diplomatic and political means."