Kissinger Transcripts: The Top Secret Talks With Beijing and Moscow

by William Burr (Editor), Henry Kissinger (Editor)

Brought to you by the Freedom of Information Never-before-seen transcripts of Henry Kissinger's most sensitive conversations with world leaders. The Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon tapes fascinated and shocked Americans with their revelations of the real goings-on in the Oval Office. Now we have the unvarnished record of Henry Kissinger's high-stakes diplomacy during the world-shaping events of the Nixon years. Here are the transcripts, formerly classified "Top Secret / Sensitive / Exclusive Eyes Only," of Kissinger's talks with Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, Leonid Brezhnev, Andrei Gromyko, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, George Bush, and others. When Henry Kissinger left the State Department in January 1977, he took with him his "personal papers" as well as copies of government papers he had worked on and reviews, and attempted to close off all access to them until five years after his death. However, transcripts of some of his most important conversations found their way into other files, where National Security Archive staffers tracked them down. These transcripts of Kissinger's conversations span the period of Nixon and Kissinger's greatest triumphs -- the opening of China culminating in Nixon's meeting with Mao Zedong in February 1972 and the success of the Nixon-Brezhnev Moscow summit in June of that year -- and most dramatic defeats -- Watergate and the decline of detente. The transcripts expand our understanding of Kissinger's diplomacy during that time -- and set the record straight. Far from the even-handed approach toward the USSR and the People's Republic of China depicted in Kissinger's public rhetoric, the Kissinger seen here is trying assiduously to curry favor with Mao and Zhou and to forge what he secretly characterized as a "tacit alliance" with Beijing. Revelations include the fact that Kissinger offered Zhou Enlai an intelligence hotline if the Soviets were ever poised to attack China, and that he provided Beijing with full accounts of his meetings with the Soviets. We also get a fly-on-the-wall perspective on Kissinger's talks with an often bemused Brezhnev on such issues as arms control, the Middle East, and Jewish emigration; and the first insider accounts ever of Kissinger's last meeting with Mao in 1975; US-Soviet clashes over Africa; the Salt II talks; and more. Supplementary materials include Kissinger's reports to President Nixon and US officials and his "back channel" cables from Beijing. The Kissinger Transcripts offers an unparalleled view of American diplomacy as conducted by one of the most controversial Secretaries of State in modern US history. With the record unmediated by Kissinger's spin, readers can begin to make up their own minds about the merits or flaws of a major effort to transform US Cold War strategy.

Genres: China

515 pages, Hardcover

First published July 30, 1999

Reviews

[Love · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is made up of a series of previously classified transcripts of Kissinger's negotiations with the Chinese and the Soviets. I would say that is requires a lot of knowledge of the foreign policy under the Nixon and Ford administrations. It is often fairly technical such as discussions on the number of warheads to be permitted for each missile under the SALT agreements.

My favorite parts was the transcripts of Kissinger and Mao's discussions on philosophy. They both admit to being greatly influenced by Hegel and disliking Indian philosophy. The discussion of Indian philosophy leads Kissinger to share his view that Gandhi's non-violence approach had no basis in either Indian philosophy or tradition and was simply a revolutionary tactic to take advantage of the moralistic British in order gain independence. Mao counters that India never gained independence, they simply changed from being dominated by the British to being dominated by the Soviets.

Another funny part is where Mao half jokingly offers the Americans 10 million Chinese women. In order to, as he says, make the lives of the Chinese less complicated and bring chaos to America. Here we can see the thinking leading o Chinas one child policy, for Mao explains that China has too many women, leading to too many children being born, keeping China in poverty. Kissinger in a typical American fashion states that offer is very tempting but that any women who come to America has to come of their own free will.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book, but a boring read. It's interesting to see how the officials related, and it's great to have these kinds of high level documents, however, not the best casual reading.

[Rey · Rating 4 out of 5]

mr. kissinger is a brilliant conversationalist even cunning. i am using this book in my dealings with sharks, the politicians