In discussing the scholarly work of Henry Kissinger, the obvious temptation is to examine the work of the scholar in the light of the politician's activities; and I intend to yield to it. There are, equally, reasons for doing so, which I shall suggest later. It should also be clear that one can not hope, in an article of this length, to do justice to the full seriousness of his works, their manifold complications and changes of well-argued position, the scope of the considerations which he has brought to bear. The aim will be the more modest one of trying to assess the nature of the contribution he has made to thinking about the major international problems of contemporary world order.