THE INEVITABILITY OF TRAGEDY WITH BARRY GEWEN

One of the New York Times's 100 Notable Books of 2020, this new portrait of Henry Kissinger focuses on the fundamental ideas underlying his policies: Realism, balance of power, and national interest.

Few public officials have provoked such intense controversy as Henry Kissinger. During his time in the Nixon and Ford administrations, he came to be admired and hated in equal measure. Notoriously, he believed that foreign affairs ought to be based primarily on the power relationships of a situation, not simply on ethics. He went so far as to argue that under certain circumstances America had to protect its national interests even if that meant repressing other countries’ attempts at democracy.

With The Inevitability of Tragedy, Barry Gewen presents the fascinating story of Kissinger’s development as both a strategist and an intellectual and examining his unique role in government through his ideas. This book analyzes his contentious policies in Vietnam and Chile, guided by a fresh understanding of his definition of Realism, the belief that world politics is based on an inevitable, tragic competition for power.

Gewen considers how Kissinger was deeply impacted by his experience as a refugee from Nazi Germany, and explores the links between his notions of power and those of his mentor, Hans Morgenthau―the father of Realism―as well as those of two other German-Jewish émigrés who shared his concerns about the weaknesses of democracy: Leo Strauss and Hannah Arendt.

You may order The Inevitability of Tragedy by Barry Gewen at: 

Flashlight Books in Walnut Creek  https://flashlightbooks.handseller.com/home/bookdetailsin/1324004053 

OR

Rakestraw Books in Danville https://www.rakestrawbooks.com/book/9781324004059

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Sponsors: CCJCC, Cong. B'nai Shalom and the Jewish Book Council

More About The Author:

Barry Gewen has been an editor at the New York Times Book Review for thirty years, and has written on politics, international affairs, and culture for several publications, including the Times, the New Republic, Dissent, and the National Interest.