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Obama Can Lead a Peaceful World: Kissinger

Former secretary of state admires president's early moves

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 7, 2009 12:18 PM CDT

(Newser) – Former secretary of state Henry Kissinger has warm words for President Obama, whom he describes as "like a chess player who has opened his game with an unusual opening" in an interview with Der Spiegel. "I have no quarrel with the opening move," he adds. "I believe that Obama has a unique chance to conduct a peaceful American foreign policy," the German-born diplomat says, because he sees no conflict with a major nation—China, Russia, or India—that would require a military solution, giving him an unprecedented diplomatic opportunity.

Kissinger says he admired Obama's Cairo speech but cautions against too much dependence on rhetoric. "If Obama believes that every crisis can be managed by a philosophical speech then he will run into Wilsonian problems." Unlike the neocons of the Bush days, Obama can embrace a "realistic idealism" that holds firm values without losing sight of geopolitical realities. For Kissinger, "to try to deal with the fate of nations without looking at the circumstances with which they have to deal is escapism."

[Images (4)]

[Quotes (3)]

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger exits Manhattan State Supreme court in New York Thursday, May 21, 2009. Kissinger testified earlier in the trial of Anthony Marshall, son of deceased socialite... (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)

U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati, left, listens to former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger answer a reporter's question in New York on Monday, March 30, 2009. Kissinger joined the... (AP Photo/Howard C. Smith, Pool)

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin shakes hands with former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, left, in Moscow , Thursday March 19, 2009. (AP Photo/ Alexei Druzhinin, pool)

President Barack Obama meets with former Secretaries of State George P. Shultz, left, and Henry Kissinger in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, May 19, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

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I do not see any conflicts between China, Russia, India, and the US which will justify a military solution. Therefore, there is an opportunity for a diplomatic effort. I am structurally more optimistic than a couple of years ago. - Henry Kissinger

The economic crisis does not permit countries to devote a historic percentage of their resources to military conflict. I am structurally more optimistic than a couple of years ago. - Henry Kissinger

Let me say a word about realpolitik. I don't think I have ever used that term. It is a way by which critics want to label me and say, 'Watch him. He's a German really. He doesn't have the American view of things.' - Henry Kissinger

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Obama Can Lead a Peaceful World: Kissinger