From Kissinger’s Diplomacy to Trump’s Power Play - by Dr. Babak Shafiee
America’s Strategic Shift: From Kissinger’s Diplomacy to Trump’s Power Play
Dr. Babak Shafiee
PhD in Geopolitics, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
Henry Kissinger, the mastermind behind U.S. foreign policy for decades, lived to see the erosion of the global order he meticulously crafted. In his final years, through writings and speeches, he urgently sought to steer American strategy back on course.
The Architect of Proxy Warfare
During the early Cold War, with the scars of World War II still fresh and nuclear arsenals casting a shadow of fear, Kissinger proposed a bold alternative to direct confrontation. In his seminal work, Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy, he introduced the concept of “limited conflicts”—what we now recognize as proxy wars. His vision allowed the U.S. to maintain global dominance without resorting to apocalyptic weapons, leveraging regional allies in conflicts from Vietnam to the Middle East and beyond.
The Art of Triangular Diplomacy
Kissinger’s genius lay in his “triangle rule”: ensuring America’s rivals—chiefly the Soviet Union and China—remained closer to Washington than to each other. Through a deft mix of charm, diplomacy, and strategic leverage, he ensured that Moscow and Beijing could never form a united front against the U.S. His persuasive approach left even hardened communist leaders receptive to his overtures, cementing America’s geopolitical advantage.
The Collapse of Kissinger’s Order
The Biden administration’s decision to freeze Russian assets during the Ukraine crisis prompted a rare warning from Kissinger: such actions would drive Moscow and Beijing into an alliance. By 2025, his fears have materialized. India’s alignment with the Russia-China axis at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, its warming ties with Beijing, and its continued reliance on Russian energy signal the unraveling of Kissinger’s carefully balanced system. The question looms: will this Eurasian convergence solidify into a formidable military-economic bloc?
From Soft Power to Hard Realities
Trump’s moves to rename the Department of Defense and signal potential action against Venezuela reflect more than mere aggression. They are desperate efforts to shore up U.S. influence in the Western Hemisphere, echoing a modernized Monroe Doctrine. These actions mark a broader shift in America’s approach, from Kissinger’s subtle diplomacy to a reliance on raw power.
This transformation is not just the product of one administration’s choices but part of the inevitable decline and adaptation of a superpower. Kissinger, who understood this cycle better than most, spent his final days warning of the collapse of the global order he had devoted his life to building
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