That’s because Kissinger has a hard time learning from lessons himself. A former advisor to Richard Nixon, Kissinger is known for using the CIA and an array of tactics to facilitate the coup that overthrew the democratically-elected president of Chile, Salvador Allende, in 1973. That support helped open the door for the brutal dictatorship of Augosto Pinochet.
With age and wisdom, some leaders recognize their mistakes and the lessons of history. That does not appear to be the case with Kissinger.
Organizations like the International Center for Transitional Justice and Human Rights First say that Kissinger instead continues to defend the positions he took with Chile and other meddling in Latin America.
Palin’s meetings with the old foreign policy guard and with world leaders on a conservative checklist are unimpressive. Her inexperience stands not only in sharp contrast to seasoned foreign affairs expert Joseph Biden, but to the type of leadership that is needed for the 21st century.
Palin could have taken notes from a current model of that leadership, Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet, who spoke yesterday before the U.N. General Assembly. A survivor of Pinochet’s dictatorship, Bachelet has acted as a convener of Latin American nations and a promoter of international cooperation. She vigorously defends human rights and calls for making the social rights of people a universal requirement.
From the Southern Pole, Bachelet has a global vision. From the northern one, Palin can see Russia. That’s not going to cut it for a nation teetering on the world stage.
