Description
Book SynopsisIf the American foreign policy establishment is a grand citadel, Henry Kissinger is the specter haunting its dusty hallways. For half a century, he was an omnipresent figure in war rooms and at press briefings, dutifully shepherding the American empire through successive attempts at expansion. For multiple generations of antiwar activists, Kissinger personified the depravity of the US war machine.
The Good Die Young assesses a career too frequently applauded in essays from respected scholars and journalists such as Gerald Horne, Carolyn Eisenberg, and Chip Gibbons, with an introduction from Bancroft Prize-winner Greg Grandin.
The world Kissinger wrought is one we live in today, where ideal investment conditions are generated from the barrel of a gun. Today, global capitalism and United States hegemony are underwritten by the most powerful military ever devised. Any political vision worth fighting for must promise an end to the cycle of never-ending wars afflicting the world in the twenty-first century. Breaking that cycle means placing the twin evils of capitalism and imperialism in our crosshairs.
The book follows Kissinger's fiery trajectory across the globe, covering Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. More than any other public figure, the life and career of this man illustrate the links between capitalism, empire, and the feedback loop of endless conflict that plagues us today.
Trade ReviewAmong all this catharsis, no one could surpass the 'unbeatable levels of hater' reached by the lefty publishers
Jacobin magazine and Verso Books...[
The Good Die Young] features essays by celebrated scholars like Gerald Horne and Carolyn Eisenberg on the wide-spanning breadth of Kissinger's noxious foreign-policy legacy and the areas of the world still hurting thanks to his time in power. -- Nitish Pahwa * Slate *
The collection strikes a blackly comic but erudite tone, opening with an introduction by Yale professor Greg Grandin that explores how Kissinger's intellectual and professional trajectory unfolded across presidential administrations and in parallel with American power at large. -- Sophia Nguyen * The Washington Post *
Table of ContentsPreface -
René Rojas, Bhaskar Sunkara, and Jonah WaltersIntroduction: To Die at the Right Time -
Greg GrandinAmericas1. Kissinger and the South American Revolutions -
Aldo Marchesi2. Kissinger in Chile -
René Rojas3. Kissinger in Argentina -
Leandro Morgenfeld4. Kissinger in Central America -
Hilary GoodfriendEurope5. Kissinger in Cyprus -
Leandros FischerMiddle East and Africa6. Kissinger in Angola -
Piero Gleijeses7. Kissinger in South Africa -
Gerald Horne8. Kissinger in Western Sahara -
Aubrey Bloomfield9. Kissinger in the Gulf -
Chip GibbonsAsia10. Kissinger in East Pakistan/Bangladesh -
Mukhtar Mirjan11. Kissinger in East Timor -
Alex de Jong12. Kissinger in Cambodia -
Brett S. Morris13. Kissinger in Vietnam and China -
An Interview with Carolyn Eisenberg14. From the War Room to Wall Street -
Christy ThorntonAcknowledgmentsAbout the ContributorsNotes
