American Foreign Policy - Henry A. Kissinger

PUNCH LINES
"If I am not for myself, who is for me, but if I am for myself alone, who am I?"

"Aggression unresisted is aggression encouraged"

"There is no alternative to peace", Dr.Eisenhower's View on nuclear age

President Kennedy points out "in the final analysis of our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal."

Spirit of Thucydides "the bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding go out to meet it."

KEY POINTS
The most difficult, indeed tragic, aspect of foreign policy is how to deal with the problem of conjecture. "When the scope for action is greatest, knowledge on which to base such action is little or ambiguous. When knowledge becomes available, the ability to affect events is usually at a minimum."
Eg: In 1936, no one could know whether Hitler was a misunderstood nationalist or a maniac. By the time certainty was achieved, it had to be paid for with millions of lives


Leadership groups are formed by at least three factors: their experiences during their rise to eminence; the structure in which they must operate; the values of their society. Three contemporary types will be discussed here:
(a) the bureaucratic-pragmatic type
(b) the ideological type
© the revolutionary-charismatic type

Declaration of independence, "Every human being had inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The state existed to protect the individual and permit full scope for the enjoyment of these rights"

Foreign policy must start with security, at the same time, security is a means, not an end.

GLOBAL CONSENSUS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Economic Development strategy should concentrate on five fundamental areas :
(a) Insuring Economic Security -
Global economic security depends on ...
The actions of suppliers of vital products
Stability of Export earnings
(b) Accelerating Economic Growth
Basic requirements for Economic growth in developing countries
Access to capital markets - World bank, ifc
Transfer of Technology - in energy, food products and improvement of nutrition, non-food agricultural and forest products
Transnational enterprises -
(c) Trade and Development
(d) Commodity and Trade Production
Food security
Other primary commodities
Comprehensive program of investment
(e) The Poorest Nations
Elemental economic security
Future economic growth