Leadership

Leadership

Six Studies in World Strategy

Summary

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Kissinger's six leaders are Konrad Adenauer, Charles de Gaulle, Richard Nixon, Anwar Sadat, Lee Kuan Yew, and Margaret Thatcher. All of them were formed in a period when established institutions collapsed all over Europe, colonial structures gave way to independent states in Asia and Africa, and a new international order had to be created from the vestiges of the old. Kissinger penetratingly analyses each of these leaders' careers through the highly individual strategies of statecraft which he presents them as embodying, to show how it is the combination of character and circumstance which creates history. Kissinger's public experience, personal knowledge and historical perceptions enrich the book with insights and judgements such as only he could make.

© Henry Kissinger 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Reviews

  • This is an extraordinary book, one that braids together two through lines in the long and distinguished career of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. The first is grand strategy: No practical geopolitical thinker has more assuredly mastered the way the modern global system works or how nations use the tools of statecraft to bend an often-resistant world to their will. But Mr. Kissinger is also an astute observer of the personal element in strategy-the art and science of leadership, or how, on the executive level, "decisions [are] made, trust earned, promises kept, a way forward proposed." In Leadership he presents a fascinating set of historical case studies and political biographies that blend the dance and the dancer, seamlessly. ... In doing so, he lays out a set of graspable tools that leaders can use effectively today. ... Kissinger puts a high premium on a deep and considered knowledge of history, coupled with a strength of inner character.
    James Stavridis, Wall Street Journal

About the author

Henry Kissinger

Henry Kissinger served in the US Army during the Second World War and subsequently held teaching posts in History and Government at Harvard University for twenty years. He served as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, and has advised many other American presidents on foreign policy. He received the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Medal of Liberty, among other awards. He is the author of numerous books and articles on foreign policy and diplomacy, including most recently On China and World Order. He is currently Chairman of Kissinger Associates, Inc., an international consulting firm.
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