Rating: 
Summary: Thought Provoking Ideas from the Modern Day Metternich
Review: You may agree or disagree with Henry Kissinger. You may think Kissinger is the modern day Prince Metternich or the modern day Napoleon III. You may read this book and say to yourself, Kissinger is saying exactly what we should do, or is giving the wrong advice on foreign policy. You can argue any of these points. You can love Kissinger or hate him. You can agree or disagree. But what you can not deny about Dr. Kissinger or his book is that he knows foreign policy and diplomacy and his ideas right or wrong are food for very serious thought.I am not going to lie and say this book is as exciting as John Grisham or Tom Clancy. It is not. Nor is it as exciting as Diplomacy was. And yes, Diplomacy is an exciting and masterful book. And his chapter on Europe is extremely dry. But the information giving, the background, the possible solutions are very important to read, understand, and debate. Kissinger's whole premise of the book to is the need for America to have a long range, well thought out foreign policy. Whether you agree with what he says about how this policy should be shaped is debatable. But what he makes a strong case for in his introduction and throughout the book is the need to have a foreign policy with specific goals, and not a foreign policy based on public opinion at the moment and by the seat of your pants. I think, right or left, realpolitik or Wilsonian we can all agree with that. Again, I felt his chapter on Europe was dry but he makes up for it with his chapter on Asia. His thoughts on China, Taiwan, and India to me were the most interesting of the book. Also, in light of the recent events in the Middle East I was glad to read his thoughts on the situation between Israel and the Palestinians. I will not recap Kissingers ideas, but again go back to the premise of the book. America needs a foreign policy, a well thought out one. We can argue Balance of Power, realpolitik, Wilsonian, etc. all day. We can argue how to handle Russia, Brazil, Israel, China, South Africa all day. But we should all look beyond Kissingers specifics, the guy knows his stuff but I agree his specifics are open for debate. But what we can all agree on, what I think Kissinger is calling for is a foreign policy that is thought out and serves the best interest of the US around the world and not a foreign policy based on CNNY polls and media spin. Again, not a light read. Not the most exciting read. But an informative and thought provoking read. And if you have not read Diplomacy by Kissinger, read that as well.
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