"When Henry Kissinger Opines"

Commentary No. 229, Mar. 15, 2008
Immanuel Wallerstein

When Henry Kissinger opines in an op-ed in the Washington Post, it behooves us all to pay attention. There is a message there. Kissinger has always presented himself as the supreme "realist" proponent on U.S. imperial policy. But he has also always taken care not to distance himself too far from the conservative political Establishment.

Hence, when he opines, he is both telling us where policy is moving and pushing it slightly in a "realist" path, in conjunction with allies inside the administration. He is thus preparing us for a shift in policy. He has now written about Pakistan. What is he telling us?

First of all, he notes the stakes for the United States in Pakistan. It is a nuclear power that is incapable of maintaining control at home and therefore one that could "turn into the wildcard of international diplomacy." Everyone knows this, he says, but "the remedy has proved elusive." Recent U.S. policy has been to favor a coalition of Musharraf and the civilian parties - a "laudable goal" but not a "practical" one. Elections in a country that does not have a civil society "sharpen" rather than solve crises. Elections, it seems, too often result in electing the wrong people.

Continued . . .