The world order

In his excellent work, the influential political scientist, historian, and former United States Secretary of State presents a multifaceted perspective on world order, underpinned by historical and political context. He demonstrates that the roots of the current arrangement of international relations were first formulated in Western Europe almost four centuries ago at a peace conference in Westphalia, Germany. The peace following the Thirty Years’ War reflected a pragmatic coming to terms with reality and was based on a community of sovereign states controlling their mutual ambitions through a general balance of power. The Westphalian system gradually expanded across the globe, incorporating a number of different civilisations and regions.

Kissinger traces the transformations this system of balance underwent after the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars at the Congress of Vienna, and how other parts of the world dealt with its building blocks in the context of their own historical, political, and cultural differences. The author also directs his analytical gaze to the issues of the Middle East (and specifically Iran), the different concepts of the balance of power in Europe and Asia, especially China’s “harmony under heaven”. He also focuses on American political visions, which ceased to rely solely on a system of balancing and began to strive for peace through the spread of democratic principles. Kissinger’s reflections culminate in the present day, seeking a perspective on world order for our time in the face of challenges such as Islamism, nuclear proliferation, and globalisation.

The American politician, diplomat, and political scientist Henry Alfred Kissinger was born in 1923 in Fürth, Germany, from where he and his family fled Nazism in 1938 to the United States of America. There, in 1943, he received citizenship, interrupted his studies in economics, and enlisted in the army. He earned his doctorate from Harvard University in 1954 and remained there in the field of international relations until the end of the 1960s. He also served as an adviser during the administrations of D. Eisenhower, J. F. Kennedy, and L. Johnson. He was the Chairman of the National Security Council (1969–1975) and became the US Secretary of State in September 1973. He remained in this post until January 1977. He is a recipient of the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize.

He delved deeply into the history of 19th-century European diplomacy, participated as a political scientist in formulating American strategic goals, and, as Secretary of State, had the opportunity to implement them. He applied his great writing talent in many publications on foreign policy and diplomacy, including, for example, Diplomacy (PROSTOR 2022, 4th edition) and World Order (PROSTOR 2023, 3rd edition). On the occasion of Henry Kissinger’s 100th birthday, the PROSTOR publishing house is releasing the author’s new book Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy in May 2023 (Czech title Politické strategie).