Henry Kissinger on the Russia-Ukraine Conflict, China & the New World Disorder | FT Live Rewind

FT Live Rewind is back — this time with a rare conversation between former United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Financial Times US National Editor Edward Luce that feels even more relevant in 2025 than when it was recorded. We’re publishing this just days after the two-year anniversary of Kissinger’s death, revisiting how he saw Russia, Ukraine, China and America’s role in the world and how many of his warnings now look astonishingly accurate. In this interview, Kissinger talks about: Why he thinks Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was a historic miscalculation. How the Russia–China relationship really works and why it might not last in its current form. The terrifying gap between today’s military technology and the lack of rules to control it. What China is learning from Putin’s mistakes. Why framing global politics as “democracy vs autocracy” can actually backfire. Watching this in 2025, we can see how much of what Kissinger describes is now playing out including – Escalating nuclear rhetoric. – High-tech weapons changing the rules of war. – A more fragmented global order, with big powers and “neutral” states all hedging for themselves. Stay tuned to FT Live for more 🔔 Chapters: 00:59 – Nixon’s China gamble: splitting Beijing from Moscow 02:00 – Are we in a new Cold War with China? 02:13 – Why the U.S. opened to China when both were “enemies” 04:46 – The fashion show & the Chinese ambassador who ran away 07:58 – Is the China–Russia axis really permanent? 10:58 – After Ukraine: should America try “reverse Kissinger”? 12:01 – Don’t drive Russia and China together 14:41 – Why “democracy vs autocracy” is the wrong grand strategy 16:56 – How serious is today’s nuclear rhetoric from Putin? 18:10 – Nuclear war, tech change and catastrophic risk 23:21 – “We are now living in a totally new era” 25:04 – Inside Putin’s mindset and historic grievances 27:28 – Putin’s strategic miscalculation in Ukraine 29:45 – The nuclear red line and nuclear blackmail 33:24 – What China is learning from the Ukraine war 35:22 – Can America and China stop the world destroying itself? 42:53 – Why India, Brazil, South Africa and others stayed neutral 48:28 – Are we naive about Russia ever becoming a democracy? 49:51 – Russia’s future place in Europe