He managed to obtain the status of a Wise Man during his lifetime. He was most politically influential half a century ago when deciding the moves of the pieces on the global chessboard. Still, at the age of 99 last year, he attracted the world's attention with what he said about Russia and Ukraine. Hardworking, with a clear mind and great analytical precision, always able to argue his point of view perfectly well. Not afraid of controversy. Proficient political writer.

However, the size always depends on the place where you sit and from which you look at it. For Henry Kissinger, the reference point has always been the Potomac. Could Poles honour him as a venerable sage? Certainly. Should they follow his indications? No way!

We have probably already forgotten about the concept he put forward during the process of German unification to make Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary a demilitarised neutral buffer zone and entrust the maintenance of peace in the region to Germany and the Soviet Union, which still existed at that time and did not look like it could ever collapse. He came to Warsaw with this idea in June 1990, when Jaruzelski was the president, Mazowiecki was the prime minister, and Polish independence was fragile.

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  In 2017 he advised President Donald Trump to recognise Russian sovereignty over Crimea and thus remove the obstacle to an agreement with Moscow, and in 2022 he advised Ukrainians to give up Crimea and Donbas in exchange for peace. He is a consistent realist, and it could be added that his ruthless pragmatism stems from imperialism. In his opinion, it is America that should arrange the world order, and the small countries’ views or sufferings do not count in the global system, which - above all - should be stable. Because you always have to keep in mind the prospect of the deadly threat of a nuclear conflict.

Our perspective is the one of individual freedom, which is worth sacrificing a lot, if not everything. His outlook is different; the dreams of entire freedom, cherished by smaller nations, can be sacrificed for general stability and security. According to him, modern world history is a "journey that will never end" towards Wilson's goals: peace, progress, stability and freedom for all humanity, which are being achieved gradually.

In the tension between those who romantically believe that freedom is indivisible - and cannot be enjoyed while others are deprived of it - and those who are content to see freedom spreading, Kissinger is undoubtedly on the side of the people who will measure its development in percent. And he won't hesitate to make it clear. We may not like it, but who said that in the whole world, every word of a Wise Man should be accepted?

– Robert Bogdański

TVP WEEKLY. Editorial team and jornalists

– translated by Katarzyna Chocian