Henry Kissinger, the former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, has given an extended interview to Prospect. He spoke exclusively to Bronwen Maddox, the editor, at his home in Connecticut.
A full account of the 90 minute-long interview will appear in the October issue of Prospect, in which Kissinger discusses subjects including Vladimir Putin, President Obama’s diplomatic skills and the US’s relationship with Iran.
He also commented on the possibility of Scottish independence and the effect that it might have on relations between Britain and America. Kissinger’s remarks are reproduced here in full, and make clear that, in his view, the trans-Atlantic alliance would be best served by Scotland remaining part of the UK.
Henry Kissinger: “I have always been a strong advocate of the special relationship. Not so much because of the power of Britain but because I thought it was important for America and important for the structure of the world to have another country that independently designed its policy but, because of its own convictions and a maybe different tradition of foreign policy and a longer experience with geopolitics, worked on common conclusions.
“I thought that that was important for us who would otherwise be stuck as an island between Eurasia and Europe. That's why I've been in favour of a nuclear capability for Britain because I wanted Britain to be recognised as a significant country in terms of global strategy. So anything that makes it smaller, I cannot say I welcome….[but] I have no strong views about the specific technical issues on which much of the referendum debate is taking place.”
