Thomas A Schwartz

" Henry Kissinger and American Power] effectively separates the man from the myths." --The Christian Science Monitor (Best Books of the Month)The definitive biography of Henry Kissinger--at least for those who neither revere nor revile him.Over the past six decades, Henry Kissinger has been one of America's most lavishly praised--and most reviled--public figures. He was hailed as a "miracle worker" for his peacemaking in the Middle East, pursuit of d tente with the Soviet Union, negotiation of an end to the Vietnam War, and secret plan to open the United States to China. He was assailed from both the left and the right for his complicity in the pointless sacrifice of American and Vietnamese lives, indifference to human rights, and reliance on deception and intrigue. Was he a brilliant master strategist--the "20th century's greatest 19th-century statesman" (Robert Kaplan, The Atlantic)--or a cold-blooded monster who eroded America's moral standing for the sake of self-promotion? In this masterfully researched biography, the renowned diplomatic historian Thomas A. Schwartz offers an authoritative and evenhanded answer to this question. While other biographers have engaged in hagiography or demonology, Schwartz takes a measured view of his subject. He recognizes Kissinger's important successes and insights into the foreign policy issues of his time, but also acknowledges his failures, his penchant for backbiting, and his reliance on ingratiating and fawning praise of the president as a source of his own power. Throughout, Schwartz stresses Kissinger's artful invention of himself as a celebrity diplomat and his domination of the medium of television news. He also notes Kissinger's sensitivity to domestic and partisan politics, complicating--and undermining--the image of the far-seeing statesman who stood above the squabbles of popular strife. Rounded and textured, and rich with new insights into key dilemmas of American policy, Henry Kissinger and American Power is an essential guide to a man whose legacy is as complex as the last sixty years of U.S. history itself.

Using a wide array of recently declassified archival materials in the United States and Western Europe, this collection offers new insights into the changing dynamics of transatlantic relations during the era of détente (1969–1980). Whereas prior studies of this decade have focused on the end of the Vietnam War or U.S.-Soviet relations, this volume reveals why bitter conflicts developed between the U.S. and its European allies, and how, contrary to conventional wisdom, European integration evolved less as a consequence of Washington's support than as a result of America's relative decline and growing U.S.-European discord. Taking into account the developments in various bilateral and multilateral settings, such as the European Community, the Helsinki process, and the G-7 summits, the contributions show that a common alliance strategy has always been a difficult undertaking, often the result of bitter confrontation and painful compromises. With clear overtones to more recent disputes, this collection demonstrates there was never a 'golden age' of transatlantic harmony.