Russia suffers overwhelming loss in Ukraine threatens world order: Kissinger

Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has warned in a new essay that Russia, “left powerless” by the war in Ukraine, could have very negative consequences around the world.

The essay, titled “How to avoid another world war“—appears in the new issue of The viewer. In it, Kissinger expounds various views on the war that the Russian president Vladimir Putin released in Ukraine at the end of February.

German-born political consultant who served in the cabinets of former presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Fordhe compares the situation in Ukraine to World War I, which he called “a kind of cultural suicide that destroyed the eminence of Europe.”

During the Great War, the nations of Europe managed to “inflict unprecedented devastation on one another,” Kissinger, 99, wrote in the British weekly magazine.

He said former President Woodrow Wilson made a costly decision by delaying a peace mediation until after the presidential election. As a result, another 2 million people were killed, and the war continued for two more years, “irreparably damaging the established balance in Europe” in the process.

The former Secretary of State then warned that the same should not be allowed to happen in Russia, lest the balance of the world order be upset.

“The preferred outcome for some is a Russia rendered powerless by war. I disagree,” Kissinger wrote. “For all its propensity for violence, Russia has made decisive contributions to the global balance and the balance of power for more than half a millennium. Her historical role must not be downgraded.”

The retired diplomat said that even with setbacks in its invasion of Ukraine, Russia remains a dominant nuclear power. He added that if such capabilities were hampered or Moscow dissolved, the huge territory could become a “contested void.”

“Your competing societies may decide to settle their disputes through violence. Other countries may try to expand their claims by force,” Kissinger said.

At the beginning of this year, Kissinger found himself in controversy after saying in an economic forum that Ukraine should cede parts of its territory to negotiate peace with Russia. In a video address, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky responded to Kissinger’s suggestions when comparing the proposal to attempts to appease Nazi Germany in the 1930s.

Zelensky said the “Kissinger calendar is not 2022, but 1938,” referring to the Munich Agreement, which was signed by Britain, France, Italy and Germany in 1938 and paved the way for Nazi Germany to annex western Czechoslovakia. .

“Whatever the Russian state does, you will always find someone who says ‘Let’s take their interests into account,'” Zelensky said. “It gives the impression that Mr. Kissinger…believes that he is speaking to an audience not in Davos but in Munich at the time.”

In his essay for The viewerKissinger maintained that he is on Ukraine’s side in the current war and also called for peace talks.

“I have repeatedly expressed my support for the allied military effort to thwart Russia’s aggression in Ukraine,” he wrote. “But the time is coming to build on the strategic changes that have already been achieved and integrate them into a new structure to achieve peace through negotiation.”

news week contacted Kissinger for further comment.