Former secretary of state Henry Kissinger demonstrated to the world this week that realpolitik, stripped of all principles, is an ugly and shameful thing. Speaking at the Davos Forum, he urged the West to not embarrass Russia, but rather to seek a negotiation at Ukraine's territorial expense. He said that Russia is too important to "Europe's long-term stability"; that without a swiftly negotiated peace, "tensions" could become chronic; and that no one should get carried away "in the mood of the moment."
Kissinger went on to say that Ukraine should just accept the status quo ante — which would mean the permanent loss of Crimea and the provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk. "Pursuing the war beyond that point would not be about the freedom of Ukraine," he added, "but a new war against Russia itself." This overlooks, of course, that Russia launched a new war against Ukraine.
It is difficult to measure the extremes of Kissinger's cynicism, for it so nicely and deceptively wrapped in the baroque language of Metternichean geopolitics. Given Kissinger's logic, the West and Russia should have negotiated their way out of the Second World War with either Hitler or Himmler. After all, we should not have wanted to "embarrass" Germany. we should have wished to avert prolonged "tensions," and fighting for the freedom of every brutalized, German-invaded nation would have been no more than a senseless war against the aggressor.
What's more, Hitler's Reich was important to Europe's long-term economic stability. But we ignored all of Kissinger's would-have-been counsel, because, one supposes, we got carried away "in the mood of the moment."
Not that democracy matters to Kissinger, but a survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute this month found 82% of Ukrainians opposed to the status quo ante, even if it means the perpetuation of war. One Ukrainian member of parliament said of Kissinger's remarks: "It’s a pity that the former US Secretary of State believes that giving up on part of the sovereign territory is a way to peace for any country!" He added that Kissinger's comments were "truly shameful."
On Twitter, the dean of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, Andrew Michta, wrote that "Henry Kissinger’s statement that #Ukraine should cede territory to negotiate an end to the war is a reminder that what passes for political realism these days is in fact appeasement. Putin’s unprovoked attack deserves a firm response from the West, not another reward."
I would argue that there are proper times for appeasement in the service of realpolitik, but not in the absence of all principles. And that is what Henry Kissinger has devolved into: a wholly unprincipled man — although some say he always has been.