Commentary. Henry Kissinger (1923-2023): Diplomacy, Balance of Power and International Order

Abstract

The following paper aims to analyse a part of Henry Kissinger's contribution to geopolitical
thought. Based on the text published in Foreign Affairs under the title ‘The Search for Stability’, it
discusses four central elements of Kissinger's intellectual production. First, the importance of the balance
of power and, related to this, the necessity of building and stabilising an international order. In
this respect, diplomacy is of central importance, which makes sense from a particular realist perspective,
far removed from the postulates of Hans Morgenthau and Kenneth Waltz, as well as the moralistic
universalism attributable to idealist theses. The text also addresses the Kissingerian analysis of the Berlin
crisis, attempting to offer as a corollary the geopolitical concerns of the man who served as Secretary
of State in the Richard Nixon administration after the end of the Cold War and into the 21st century.
Keywords: Diplomacy; balance of power; Henry Kissinger; international order.