Mirza Jahanzeb Beg
I woke up to the news of the death of Henry Kissinger who has passed away at the age of 100. He was one of the most powerful and controversial men in the world, and he had a huge impact on the Middle East, which I’m keenly interested in, owing to the fact that the sentiments of Muslim population are deeply connected with the holy land of Jerusalem, because it is the site of the first qibla (direction of prayer), the third holiest mosque (Al-Aqsa), and the place where Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is believed to have ascended to heaven (Isra and Miraj). Jerusalem is mentioned in various Islamic texts and is considered a sacred and blessed land by Muslims. Muslims have a historical and religious attachment to Jerusalem, and they have fought and sacrificed for its liberation and protection throughout history.
Let me tell you a bit about Kissinger’s life and his legacy, and why he was such a complex and contradictory figure. He was born in Germany in 1923, and he fled from the Nazis to the U.S. in 1938. He became a scholar and an expert on international relations, and he rose to prominence during the Vietnam War, when he served as the national security adviser and the secretary of state under Presidents Nixon and Ford. He was a master of realpolitik, which means that he cared more about the national interests and the balance of power than the moral values and the human rights. He was very good at negotiating and manipulating the world leaders, and he was very secretive and sometimes dishonest in his dealings. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973, but he also caused a lot of wars and bloodshed around the world.
One of his main achievements was his involvement in the Middle East, especially during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, which we call the Yom Kippur War or the Ramadan War. He helped to stop the fighting and to make peace between Egypt and Israel, and he also prevented a nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, which were supporting different sides in the conflict. He was very clever and brave in his shuttle diplomacy, and he earned the respect and the trust of many Arab leaders, including President Sadat of Egypt and King Faisal of Saudi Arabia.

(Photo: Neil Gorsuch’s 1988 Columbia University yearbook photo, in which he had picked a Henry Kissinger quotation to caption)
But he also made a lot of mistakes and enemies in the Middle East. He ignored and marginalized the Palestinians, who were not invited to the peace talks, and he supported Israel’s occupation and colonization of their lands. He also angered and isolated Syria, which refused to make peace with Israel without a solution to the Palestinian problem. He failed to address the root causes of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and he created a fragile and unstable situation that would lead to more violence and suffering in the future.
Another major achievement of Kissinger was his opening of relations between the U.S. and China in 1972, which he did secretly and skillfully. This was a game-changer that changed the balance of power in the world, and it also benefited the Arab world, as China became a more reliable and friendly partner than the Soviet Union, which had betrayed and abandoned its Arab allies in the 1973 war. China also supported the Palestinian cause and opposed Israel’s aggression and expansionism.
But he also paid a high price for his rapprochement with China. He sacrificed the rights and the interests of the people of Taiwan, Tibet, and Hong Kong, who suffered under China’s dictatorship and oppression. He also ignored China’s human rights abuses and crimes, such as the Cultural Revolution, the Tiananmen Square massacre, and the genocide of the Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. Many Americans say he turned a blind eye to China’s nuclear weapons and military buildup, which threatened the security and the stability of the world or maybe threatened American Supremacy as a Big Brother. He also enabled China’s economic growth and dominance, which came at the cost of the environment, the labor rights, and the fair trade.
Kissinger’s legacy in the Middle East and the world is a mixed one. He was a brilliant and bold diplomat who achieved some remarkable and historic breakthroughs, but he was also a cynical and cold-hearted politician who caused some tragic and lasting problems. He was a friend and a foe, a peacemaker and a warmonger, a visionary and a villain. He was a complex and contradictory figure who left a deep and indelible mark on the world. He deserves to be remembered and studied, but also to be criticized and challenged. He was Henry Kissinger, and he is no more.
Mirza Jahanzeb Beg is a Psychologist and Author who talks about Science, Philosophy, History and Geopolitics.