In the aftermath of Henry Kissinger's death at the age of 100, a reflection on his complex legacy has emerged, highlighting the stark contrasts between modern-day values and the era in which he held significant diplomatic influence. As an international diplomat and America's national security advisor from 1969, and later serving as Secretary of State from 1973, Kissinger became a prominent figure during a time of intense Cold War tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union.

During his tenure, Kissinger championed a realpolitik approach, treating nations as mere pawns in a global chessboard, which often resulted in grave consequences. His belief in the US's ability to impose order on a chaotic world stemmed from his own insecurities and desires for recognition in his adoptive country, having fled Nazi Germany as a German Jew in 1938.

Kissinger's most notable diplomatic achievements include his secretive efforts to establish diplomatic relations with China in the early 1970s, a move aimed at undermining the Soviet Union's influence. However, while Kissinger and President Richard Nixon played the "China card" to shift the balance of power, the long-term implications of the burgeoning US-China relationship were unforeseen, with the bilateral ties transforming to become the most important and increasingly tumultuous in the world today.

Kissinger's approach also led to detente with the Soviet Union, which involved a series of confidence-building nuclear arms limitation treaties. While seen as successful at the time, this policy ignored Soviet human rights abuses and failed to address the broader global aspects of US-Soviet rivalry.

Furthermore, Kissinger's realpolitik extended to covertly arming and equipping rival forces in African countries like Mozambique, Angola, South West Africa (now Namibia), Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), and Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). His policies extended to Latin America, where US-backed regimes and dictators, such as Chile's General Augusto Pinochet, carried out repressive actions that resulted in the deaths of thousands.

While celebrated for his role in mediating the 1973 Yom Kippur war between Israel, Egypt, and Syria, Kissinger's "peace with honor" approach to ending the Vietnam War has come under intense scrutiny. His involvement in the secret carpet-bombing of neutral Cambodia, resulting in the deaths of approximately 50,000 civilians, has been widely condemned as a horrific example of his realpolitik in action.

Despite the controversy surrounding his actions, Kissinger managed to evade accountability due to the changing world and a decline in social deference. In his later years, Kissinger ran an exclusive consultancy, advised presidents off-the-record, wrote books, and cultivated the image of a respected elder statesman.

As the world continues to grapple with the legacy of Henry Kissinger, his realpolitik methods and pursuit of power remain central to the discussions surrounding the proper conduct of foreign policy. While his actions reflect a bygone era, the consequences of his decisions continue to shape the geopolitical landscape today.