Henry Kissinger turns 100 | Ian Bremmer | Quick Take

Ian Bremmer on Henry Kissinger at 100 and the pros and cons of his US foreign policy legacy.

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take:

Hi everybody. Ian Bremmer here. Happy Tuesday to you after Memorial Day weekend, and I thought I'd talk for a bit about Dr. Kissinger since he's just turned 100 old. I'm pretty sure he's the only centenarian that I know well. And lots of people have spoken their piece about how much they think he's an amazing diplomat, unique, and how much they think he's a war criminal, unique. And maybe not surprising to anyone, I'm a little bit in between those views.

I have known him for a long time. I remember first time I met him was around 1994. I'd just come back from Ukraine and I introduced myself to him at some event in New York. And he was interested in what I had to say. And so why don't you come and have lunch with me? Which was kind of surprising since he didn't know me at all. And I thought, well, maybe he's just getting rid of me to talk to other people that are in line. But a couple days later, I find myself in his office having tea sandwiches and talking about Ukraine and the context of Russia relations, Europe relations and US. It could have been with a professor of mine or some colleague, the kind of discussion we were having. It didn't feel like he was being pompous or talking down to me. Spoke like he wanted to understand what I had learned from my relationships on the ground and my analysis and challenge it against his own. So that was pretty interesting.

Of course, I will tell you at that point, the reading that I had done of Kissinger was mostly in his own words on diplomacy and from some professors of mine at Stanford and the colleagues there that generally were very well-disposed to him. Since then, I probably sit down with him a few times a year and talk about global issues. And it's always interesting to hear his perspective. I would say that when it comes to broad international relations, he is of a very specific view and school, very transactional, very strategic. He's also of a certain time and place in the sense that he still doesn't believe that Europe really matters, doesn't accept that the European Union has become much stronger, much more capable as an institution than it was 10, 20, 30 years ago, than it was when he was saying, "Who do I call in Europe? Give me a phone number. They don't have one."

On the other hand, he's retooled himself considerably to truly learn about and understand artificial intelligence, and not just from a layman's perspective, but understand the policy implications. And to do that at the age of 100 is pretty extraordinary. I consider AI to be an utter game changer, geopolitically more important than any transformation I've seen on the global stage since I did my PhD some 30 plus years ago.

But for Kissinger to do that at 100 is quite something. And the fact that he has the wherewithal and the acumen to do that, I'm sure says a lot about why he still is put together as he is. There was an event that I did for the Young President's Organization, a few thousand folks, a few months ago. And this was on a big stage and Kissinger was going to give a masterclass, but they needed someone to engage with him for an hour, and he asked if I'd do it. So I said, "Sure." And what was interesting about it was, I mean, I sat in close to him so that he could hear everything I was saying clearly.

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[shanewilson]

Not many war criminals make it to 100. Congratulations Henry. Enjoy your day with friends and family.

[QuayleTBird]

I really appreciate your extremely insightful and balanced analysis. Thanks for the inside view of such a complex and important historical person. I too find it difficult to dismiss the lives of people, wherever they live, for political gain.

[juliokuhner]

Marvelous As always…. Congratulations!!!!

[technologyandsocietyC]

Thank you for recounting Kissinger's war crimes.

[nickhexum]

That was actually a fair take. It's one of the reasons I like hearing what Ian Bremmer has to say. I would have preferred he just flat out called him a war criminal, because that's what Kissinger was, but I understand that Ian has to be more tactful than that.

[SS-obnv]

After this analysis and after Kissinger watches it, I doubt Ian will be invited to have any more meetings with him.

[Philip-igdr]

The best history of Kissinger I have ever heard. In my view he was a monster

[RPRosen-kifk]

I enjoyed your insights on the man. Your audio has been sub par lately. You should consult a professional to see if you need new mic/equipment, or different settings.

[jagannathdixit]

Evil genius turns 100:
There is no other single person who is alive today responsible for so many failed American foreign policies in the last 70 years costing thousands of American lives and trillions of dollars of long-term amortized US debt and disabled American Veterans. Naming a few here: responsible for waking up Chinese dragon offering Chinese jobs, inducing American companies to set up shops in China and root cause of all China related issues today. Failed in Vietnam / Cambodia/ Chile policy. Spoiling US - India relations for the last 70 years and coddling dictatorship of Pakistan, and giving once even unthinkable nuclear threat to India. He passionately hated Indira Gandhi as she always showed him the door. Kissinger was the single most important force for India to be pushed into USSR sphere.

[trickyfish]

Who else is watching this again after he died?

[MarcKellison]

He's been sh*t with Ukraine also. Basically said for them to just wave the white flag and let Russia have what they want, despite all their war crimes.

[tekannon]

I know I speak for many people when I say I hope we will see you giving your videocasts when you've lived over one hundred summers, Ian! Henry Kissinger shows us what a future man will be i.e., commonplace in society as age is really only a number. If your mind is clear and you are in good heatlh, it does not matter what year you were born in. What Kissinger has been able to do in his life is to have made decisions that according to some have caused a lot of good and then for others a lot of decisions that didn't. What is remarkable is that at the same time he has moved on in spite of the controversy over some dicey calls and he has made some very positive contributions to society and shared precious knowledge that has helped his government and the west. The jury is still out on political misfits coming back to the stable of stars on the international stage; the controversial Assad of Syria a case in point. Nonetheless, like Henry the 'K' as he used to be called, Kissinger is unclassifiable, but how history will judge him and his legacy and only a gifted biographer and decades of time will tell.

[telluwide]

Just proves "only the good die young"....

[Rick-C-]

I love Ian but can someone get him proper audio recording hardware?

[sizzle]

Appreciate this take, thanks for posting. That said, please get a better microphone and maybe have an AI program master the sound. The audio quality on this video and others of yours is atrocious, sounds similar or even worse as when people call into a podcast chat via phone. Sound is incredibly important for hooking and keeping people engaged. Thanks.

[frankshifreen]

Tragic can you count the dead Kissinger is responsible for

[Athenaikos]

I can easily see AI replacing geopolitical commentary since you can really ask hard questions to robots and expect them to greatly improve their response next time around. Most commentators spend way too much time defending themselves vs. an AI machine that constantly scans for more data and information. I am a great fan of incremental and perpetual improvement on all human endeavors.