Kissinger, diplomat or juggler?

Press, 12 January 1977, Page 6

Kissinger, diplomat or juggler?

NZPA-Reuter Washington.]: I Dr Henry Kissinger, diplo- i mat, has often been described as Henry Kissinger, juggler! A spinner of plates on long ; poles who entrances his audience into forgetting all else. So long as the plates do i not crash, that is. The description by long ] istanding Washington observ-[; ers is the direct reverse of; Dr Kissinger’s image of him] self during his years as Sec- i retary of State from 19731 onwards, and earlier, from I 1969, as National Security 1 Adviser to the President. I He liked to think that, • unlike his predecessors and i rivals, he was laying a firm i foundation for future peace, 1 and not merely temporising ■ to forestall an inevitable con-]; flict. ;i But the balance-sheet ofji his eight-year foreign-policy ■ reign, which ends this month t with Mr Jimmy Carter’s inauguration as President, i shows a mixed record of ■ successes, failures, progress, i and stagnation. , The record was in large ( part overshadowed by Kiss- ( inger, the showman, Kissinger i the acrobat. In Vietnam, in May, 1975, his plates crashed to earth, , just 15 months after he had , concluded the peace agree- . ment that won him half a . Nobel Peace Prize, the Saigon; Government fell. With China, the thaw begun i ( so optimistically by the/ former President Mr Richard!; Nixon in 1972, has yet to be]] developed into more than altruce. , , i i In Southern Africa, the five:] point “peace package” hey negotiated last September in ' an attempt to prevent a race.’ war for newer in Rhodesia:' looks wobbly. Detente with the Sovietp Union, the other main initia- ! tive of the Nixon era, has' 1

Islowed to a halt: the outline] I for a strategic arms agree ] ment that was drafted at: Vladivostok in November.] 1974, has made virtually no progress in the past two! years. And as Dr Kissinger leaves office, a new sceptical attitude; towards Soviet military in | tentions may mean that the; [proposed Vladivostok pact [was stillborn. > Ironically-, in the Middle! East, the one problem that appeared to many people to be the most intractible of all. Dr Kissinger’s efforts have borne the most fruit: indi-j vidually, the series«.of agree-; ments he achieved with so much fanfare after the Octo-i ber, 197.3, Middle East war seem ephemeral: the Geneva] [peace conference, the Sinai! [and Golan Heights disengage-, jment agreements, and the Israeli surrender of the Gidi and Mitla Passes. But there are exceptions! to this rule, too: he made virtually no progress in; mediating the Greek-Turkish! dispute over Cyprus, but he] did manage to end a period] of irritation between the United States and its North Atlantic allies. In the end, Dr Kissinger’s], impact on the world may transcend his individual. , measurable successes or : failures. A former Under-Secretary of State. Mr George Ball, has ; said that Dr Kissinger’s one- , man diplomacy set diplo-1, matic practice back 300; years. In reply, Dr Kissinger’s j] admirers argue that he at , least demonstrated that]] activist diplomacy can be , effective, not to mention en-i; rertaining, and that a foreign minister need not be a digni- j fied old gentleman who con-;, fines himself to formalL speeches and diplomatic re- , ceptions.

Critics of Dr Kissinger's highly-publicised, one-man shuttles between the Arab nations and Israel say that he never even came close to solving basic problems: the future of Israeli-occupied Jerusalem, Arab recognition of Israel’s right to exist, or lhe plight of the 2.8 million displaced Palestinians who regard Israel as their rightful home. Yet both Israeli and Arab leaders now find themselves observing a truce which has lasted longer than they once dared to hope, and contemplating possible formulas for transforming that truce into I peace. Historians of the future i may conclude from this rec- ' ord that Dr Kissinger was a better mediator than advocate. better at solving the problems of others than at removing America's differlences with its own adver- ; saries and allies. I When ar. international ! problem had to be solved, I the "send for Kissinger’’’ I cry was sounded, and the ! United States could claim an ] international diplomatic role which was not shared, for example, by the Soviet Union. To the extent that this increased American prestige after the Vietnam era. and to the extent that it gave the world faith that an active foreign policy can in fact solve problems, the credit must go to Dr Kissinger. On the other hand, during his years in office, the substance of almost everything Dr Kissinger achieved was criticised because of his style. It would undoubtedly be galling to him if history were to judge that the onlv thing he clearly and unimistakably achieved was — I like that juggler — style.