The Nemesis of Stability

Holger Klitzing

The Nemesis of Stability. Henry A. Kissinger's Ambivalent Relationship with Germany

ISBN 978-3-88476-942-3, 532 S., kt., € 49,50 (2007)

(Mosaic - Studien und Texte zur amerikanischen Kultur und Geschichte, Bd. 30)

Although Henry Kissinger's connections with Germany are manifold, they had so far escaped comprehensive historiographical examination. The Jewish emigrant from Nazi Germany returned to his native country as an American soldier. As a scholar of the Vienna Congress he advised Kennedy during the Berlin crisis in 1961. As the National Security Adviser to President Nixon, bound to extricate the United States from Vietnam and to enter into an "era of negotiations" with the USSR, Kissinger had to deal with the Eastern policy of the Brandt-Scheel government. And, among other things, as the first immigrant to become Secretary of State, he retained a lasting love for German soccer. Based on extensive research on both sides of the Atlantic and newly declassified documents, this international history of Kissinger's relationship with Germany integrates his views, contacts, and policies into the context of the larger trends in German-American relations and also investigates the German agency in shaping the various dimensions of this multifaceted connection. While Kissinger constantly tried to further the transatlantic dialogue during the Cold War and beyond, it was first and foremost his understanding of U.S. interests that determined his approach toward the German question. The deeply felt concern over a possible re-emergence of the unpredictable force of German nationalism had an impact upon Kissinger's image of Germany as much as his respect for Bonn's successful reconstruction efforts within the Western community of nations. In particular, this book sheds new light on how this inherent tension influenced the way Kissinger engineered the American response to Ostpolitik.

Pressestimme

"Insgesamt ist Klitzing ein wichtiger Beitrag zur Kissinger-Literatur und zur Geschichte der deutsch-amerikanischen Beziehungen gelungen."

Wilfried Loth, Neue Politische Literatur 53.3 (2008)