Crisis: The Anatomy of Two Major Foreign Policy Crises [Paperback]

Henry Kissinger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 27, 2004

By drawing upon hitherto unpublished transcripts of his telephone conversations during the Yom Kippur War (1973) and the last days of the Vietnam War (1975), Henry Kissinger reveals what goes on behind the scenes at the highest levels in a diplomatic crisis.

The two major foreign policy crises in this book, one successfully negotiated, one that ended tragically, were unique in that they moved so fast that much of the work on them had to be handled by telephone.

The longer of the two sections deals in detail with the Yom Kippur War and is full of revelations, as well as great relevancy: In Kissinger's conversations with Golda Meir, Israeli Prime Minister; Simcha Dinitz, Israeli ambassador to the U.S.; Mohamed el-Zayyat, the Egyptian Foreign Minister; Anatoly Dobrynin, the Soviet Ambassador to the U.S.; Kurt Waldheim, the Secretary General of the U.N.; and a host of others, as well as with President Nixon, many of the main elements of the current problems in the Middle East can be seen.

The section on the end of the Vietnam War is a tragic drama, as Kissinger tries to help his president and a divided nation through the final moments of a lost war. It is full of astonishing material, such as Kissinger's trying to secure the evacuation of a Marine company which, at the very last minute, is discovered to still be in Saigon as the city is about to fall, and his exchanges with Ambassador Martin in Saigon, who is reluctant to leave his embassy.

This is a book that presents perhaps the best record of the inner workings of diplomacy at the superheated pace and tension of real crisis.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Henry Kissinger was the fifty-sixth Secretary of State. Born in Germany, Dr. Kissinger came to the United States in 1938 and was naturalized a U.S. citizen in 1943. He served in the U.S. Army and attended Harvard University, where he later became a member of the faculty. Among the awards he has received are the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Medal of Liberty. Dr. Kissinger is currently Chairman of Kissinger Associates, Inc., an international consulting firm.

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (July 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743249119
• ISBN-13: 978-0743249119
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,323,678 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, October 28, 2003

By 

Redmund K. Sum (Los Altos, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crisis : The Anatomy of Two Major Foreign Policy Crises: Based on the Record of Henry Kissinger's Hitherto Secret Telephone Conversations (Hardcover)

After reading this book, the question looms large as to why Dr. Kissinger bothered to "write" it. It is essentially a selected collection of phone logs between Dr. Kissinger and his cohorts during the Yom Kippur War and the last days of the Vietnam War. If you are halfway interested in politics and history, there is nothing in this book that you don't already know, other than being able to glean through the actual words spoken by the policy makers of the time - what was "behind the scenes" was not startlingly different than what was on the TV screen.

I am disappointed with this book, not least because I am much impressed by Dr. Kissinger's other work, especially his defining tome: Diplomacy.

I am thankful for the tip given by the previous reviewer from Amsterdam, pointing out where to get the declassified information from the NSA. He was right. The account (of the Yom Kippur War) from the declassified NSA documents was more succinct, balanced and overall more informative.

14 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Student of American foreign policy since 1960, October 7, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Crisis : The Anatomy of Two Major Foreign Policy Crises: Based on the Record of Henry Kissinger's Hitherto Secret Telephone Conversations (Hardcover)

Kissinger has done another book which reveals far less than was discussed in the contemporary press. His accounts are mainly inane and trivial. The transcripts on Vietnam are almost wholly on the evacuation of April 1975 and trivial details, well known. As for the Yom Kippur war, the National Security Archives has released crucial declassified documents and they are free at
http://www.nsarchive.org/NSAEBB/NSAEBB98. They are much more important and insightful than this exceedinly lame production.

5.0 out of 5 stars Kissinger is great, August 23, 2011

By 

S. Waltzer (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Crisis : The Anatomy of Two Major Foreign Policy Crises (Paperback)

Kissinger is great. "Kissinger On China" is the equivalent of being trapped in a first class carriage traveling by rail from Paris to Istanbul and discovering that your companion is brilliant, immersed in his subject, and the most agreeable, articulate and comprehensible person you will meet.
"Crisis" is not quite as good but nearly so. The 1973 war, the Yom Kippor War set so many diplomatic strategies at one another, much like an atomic collider. Kissinger recounts his efforts to rule in the quarks and neutrinos and emerge with a stabilized, longevous solution to the conflicting aspirations of the various sovereign states in the Middle East. In doing so the narrative is very gripping. It is the transcriptions of his various phone calls made over that week. In its background, Nixon is beleaguered by the Watergate crisis. It provides an unusually clear insight into the complications facing diplomacy and national interests that are nearly invisible at the time.

The end of the Viet Nam war is the second crisis, with a much sadder and disorganized outcome. Nixon is gone and Ford is struggling to effect diplomacy through Kissinger at a time when America, who used Viet Nam as an ally to contain Chinese expansion, ultimately abandons it. One cannot help but see the parallels arising from Bush's intervention Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. It can be a tad creepy, still worth it.