A century of strategy

Lessons from Henry Kissinger on his 100th birthday

Henry Kissinger is 100. He did a round of interviews in the weeks and days leading up to his recent century-mark birthday, and so I rounded up some of those interviews to mine for the best insights into his thinking. I've brought them here to Strategy Notes.

Whatever you think of Mr. Kissinger—and I'm sure the opinions vary widely—he's experienced in a way that's rare. Very rare. In at least one way of thinking, at the intersection of longevity and placement, he may well be the most experienced strategically-minded person on the planet.

Of course his background is tilted toward statecraft, but much of what he says and thinks can be repackaged for far wider use. The quotations below from Mr. Kissinger come from two sources, the Economist (20-26 May edition), and the Wall Street Journal 27-28 May edition ("The Great Strategist Turns 100," interview with Tunku Varadarajan).

On the stakes in today's world:

"We live in a world of unprecedented destructiveness. If you look at military history, you can say, it has never been possible to destroy all your opponents, because of limitations of geography and of accuracy. [Now] there are no limitations. Every adversary is 100 percent vulnerable."

"We all have to admit we're in a new world, for whatever we do can go wrong. And there is no guaranteed course."

What destruction hath wrought:

"The two world wars should have taught that the price one pays even with conventional technology is out of proportion to most objectives that are achievable." And so, "the growth within each society through cyber and biology to intrude into the territory of the other, this kind of war will destroy civilization."

The prerequisite for a strategic mind:

"In order to get a strategic view, you need faith in your country."

To interpret this for a wider audience, I think what he's saying is that you have to believe in your own agency. Your own ability to shape and bend your own future, even if that ability is ever so slight or uncertain or imperfect.

Advice for those in leadership positions:

"I don't think a president today could send an envoy with the powers that I had." Kissinger advises that arguing about possibility is a mistake. "If you look at the leaders whom I've respected, they didn't ask that question. They asked,'is it necessary?'"

"Identify where you are. Pitilessly."

"Define objectives that can enlist people. Find means, describable means, of achieving these objectives."

"Link all of these to your domestic objectives, whatever they are."