Henry Kissinger

BRILLIANT DIPLOMAT The recent passing of Henry Kissinger (1923-2023) reminds us that America’s arguably most brilliant modern diplomatic mind provoked as much criticism as praise. Genius or villain, Henry Kissinger well understood and eclipsed both support and opposition. In other words, he transcended the traditional American foreign policy debate between …

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Benedict XVI

SALT OF THE EARTH Laid to rest on January 5, 2023, the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI cannot be allowed to simply pass into history, because his legacy is compelling, if complicated. In 2013, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Munich became the first pope to resign in almost 600 years. To …

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Guadalcanal

CHINA AND THE SOLOMON ISLANDS Last week, when the U. S. Coast Guard cutter Oliver Henry sought to make a scheduled stop at historic Guadalcanal to refuel and reprovision, it was tersely denied port entry. This abrupt and insulting snub demonstrates that the totalitarian People’s Republic of China now essentially …

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Nixon to China at 50

BOLD AND AMBITIOUS GAMBLE Fifty years have passed since American President Richard Nixon made his historic trip to China. On February 21, 1972, when Air Force One landed in Beijing, two decades of enmity between America and China ended. Firstly, a beaming President Nixon alighted to respectfully shake the hand …

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Remember Korea

RESOLVE AND RESTRAINT We remember Korea as an example of American resolve and restraint. Firstly, seventy years ago, in January 1950, U. S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson implied that the Korean Peninsula lay outside the defense perimeter of the United States. Then, on Sunday July 25, 1950, at 4:00 …

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