MOLDOVA STATE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS POLICITAL AND

ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCES
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS DEPARTMENT

„POLITICAL SYSTEM OF AUSTRIA”

Report

Developed by : Dementiev Diana , gr.101. IR

Lecturer : Stejaru Selena

CHIȘINĂU , 2018
 CONTENTS
Introduction

Chapter I His career growth

Chapter II His role in foreign policy of the USA

Chapter III His post-diplomatic activity

Conclusions

Bibliography

Key-wors : diplomacy, internationa relations , foreign policy , war , honors ,

awards, detente .
 Introduction

Henry Kissinger is an American diplomat and political scientist who served

as the United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under
the presidential administrations of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

He became National Security Advisor in 1969 and later concurrently United

States Secretary of State in 1973. For his actions negotiating a ceasefire
in Vietnam, Kissinger received the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize under
controversial circumstances, with two members of the committee resigning in
protest. Kissinger later sought, unsuccessfully, to return the prize after
the ceasefire failed. 

His political activity is so distinctive from other diplomats if we remain his

political activity and participation in the Vietnam and Bangladesh wars and
his position towards the relations between the USA with Soviet Union and
between the USA and the People's Republic of China : during this period, he
pioneered the policy of détente with the Soviet Union, orchestrated the
opening of relations with the People's Republic of China, and negotiated
the Paris Peace Accords, ending American involvement in the Vietnam War.
Kissinger has also been associated with such controversial policies as CIA
involvement in Chile and U.S. support for Pakistan, despite
the genocide during the Bangladesh War.[5] After leaving government, he
formed Kissinger Associates, an international consulting firm. Kissinger has
been a prolific author of books on diplomatic history and international
relations with over one dozen books authored.

General opinion of Henry Kissinger is strongly divided . While some

journalists, activists, and human rights lawyers have condemned him as a war
criminal, several scholars have ranked him as the most effective U.S.
Secretary of State since 1965. 
I think that we should know the personality of Henry Kissinger because , he is
the one of the best diplomats of the world.

Chapter I His career growth

Henry Alfred Kissinger was born on May 27, 1923. Kissinger was born
Heinz Alfred Kissinger in  Bavaria, Germany, in 1923 during the Weimar
Republic, to a family of German Jews. In 1938, fleeing Nazi persecution, his
family moved to London, England, before arriving in New York on
September 5.

On June 19, 1943, while stationed in South Carolina, at the age of 20 years, he
became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

Henry Kissinger received his AB degree in political science from Harvard

College in 1950. He received his MA and PhD degrees at Harvard
University in 1951 and 1954, respectively. In 1952, while still a graduate
student at Harvard, he served as a consultant to the director of
the Psychological Strategy Board. His doctoral dissertation was titled "Peace,
Legitimacy, and the Equilibrium”.

Kissinger remained at Harvard as a member of the faculty in the Department

of Government and, with Robert R. Bowie, co-founded the Center for
International Affairs in 1958 where he served as associate director. In 1955,
he was a consultant to the National Security Council's Operations
Coordinating Board. During 1955 and 1956, he was also study director in
nuclear weapons and foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. He
released his book Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy the following year.

Keen to have a greater influence on U.S. foreign policy, Kissinger became

foreign policy advisor to the presidential campaigns of Nelson Rockefeller,
supporting his bids for the Republican nomination in 1960, 1964, and
1968. After Richard Nixon won the presidency in 1968, he made
Kissinger National Security Advisor.

Chapter II His role in foreign policy of the USA

Kissinger served as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State under

President Richard Nixon, and continued as Secretary of State under Nixon's
successor Gerald Ford.

-Soviet Union , People’s Republic of China

A proponent of Realpolitik, Kissinger played a dominant role in United States

foreign policy between 1969 and 1977. In that period, he extended the policy
of détente. This policy led to a significant relaxation in US–Soviet tensions and
played a crucial role in 1971 talks with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. 

The talks concluded with a rapprochement between the United States and the
People's Republic of China, and the formation of a new strategic anti-Soviet
Sino-American alignment.

-Bangladesh war

The USA , guided by Kissinger , was supported Pakistan in the Bangladesh

Liberation War in 1971. He made that for demonstrate to the People’s
Republic of China the value of a alliance with the USA because he was
concerned by the treaty that was signed between India and the USSR about
the expansion of Soviet influence in South Asia.
-Latin American policy

Kissinger too , tried to normalize the relations with Cuba that was broken
since 1961 ( trade between the USA and Cuba was blocked , Cuba was
excluded from the Organization of American States ) . But after involvement
of Cuba’s Army in the independence struggles in Angola and Mozambique ,
Kissinger changed his point of view because Cuba refused to withdrew its
forces .

In case of that , we can observe that his political purpose was to maintain
prestige and strength of the USA and to avert extension of the USSR .

Chapter III His post-diplomatic activity

Kissinger left office when Democrat Jimmy Carter defeated Republican

Gerald Ford in the 1976 presidential elections. Kissinger continued to
participate in policy groups, such as the Trilateral Commission, and to
maintain political consulting, speaking, and writing engagements.

 In February 2000, then-president of Indonesia Abdurrahman

Wahid appointed Kissinger as a political advisor. He also serves as an
honorary advisor to the United States-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce.

On November 17, 2016, Kissinger met with then President-elect Donald

Trump during which they discussed global affairs. Kissinger also met with
President Trump at the White House in May 2017.

These show to us how devoted is Kissinger to pilitics . He dedicated all his life
for working in this area .
 Conclusions
In my point of view , the personality of Henry Kissinger is so interesting . In
period of his activity , he was always in the center of news , after president
sure , because his policy activities were so vast and miscellaneous.

He was awarded with :

1.Kissinger and Le Duc Tho were jointly offered the 1973 Nobel Peace

Prize for their work on the Paris Peace Accords which prompted the
withdrawal of American forces from the Vietnam war.

2.On January 13, 1977, Kissinger received the Presidential Medal of

Freedom from President Gerald Ford.

3.In 1980, Kissinger won the National Book Award in History for the first
volume of his memoirs, The White House Years.

4.In 1995, he was made an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the

British Empire

5.In 2002, Kissinger became an honour member of the International Olympic

Committee.
6.On March 1, 2012, Kissinger was awarded Israel's President's Medal.

7.He received the Theodore Roosevelt American Experience Award from

the Union League Club of New York in 2009.

And , in case of that , anyway , he was criticized by other public people. For
example :

‘Henry Kissinger is one of the worst people to ever be a force for good.’
By Nicholas Thompson, editor of newyorker.com and author of The Hawk and
the Dove: Paul Nitze, George Kennan and the History of the Cold War

Henry Kissinger is one of the worst people to ever be a force for good. He
manipulated colleagues and nations. He faked the beginning of a nuclear war
in order to advance some perverse personal game theory. He callously
perpetrated international crimes. But he was a man of ideas at the center of
an American strategy that ultimately benefited the world in some grand sense.
His China policy was one of America’s great Cold War achievements. He
deserves to be honored and to be given a medal—but one with the image of a
man who is scowling and holding a knife. Henry Kissinger was a success—a
true, American success—but he can only be called an idealist if he can be
called despicable too.

The best to be said for him was that he was creative in his diplomacy.’ 
By James Mann, author of About Face: A History of America’s Curious
Relationship With China and resident scholar at Johns Hopkins School of
Advanced International Studies

The notion that Kissinger was fundamentally an idealist is, to me, utterly
preposterous. Indeed, during his period in office he reveled in his realism.
The best to be said for him was that he was creative in his diplomacy, shaking
up old patterns and relationships across the globe. Inside Washington he was
also, along with Donald Rumsfeld, one of the two or three most skillful
bureaucratic warriors of modern times; his most consistent trait was to amass
as much power and control as possible in his own office and person. But his
claims to brilliance often fell apart on closer scrutiny. (The China initiative,
for example, began with Richard Nixon, not Kissinger—and Kissinger
concealed for years some of the concessions he made in Beijing.) On the
whole, he was and is vastly overrated as a statesman.

Hero or villain, he remains a larger than life figure, in part, because

he mattered.’
By Luke Nichter, associate professor of history at Texas A&M University and
co-editor of The Nixon Tapes

We Americans overly idealize our leaders. We like to think they’re John F.

Kennedy, but they’re really more like Richard Nixon or Henry Kissinger. In
his relatively short time in government, Kissinger played a leading role in
creating the world we live in—a post-Cold War world, a globalized world and
a more diffuse world. We are divided on his legacy because he remains so
relevant today; we’ve spent nearly five times longer debating his
accomplishments than he spent accomplishing them. Hero or villain, he
remains a larger than life figure, in part, because he mattered. And as more
records are released by the National Archives, we’ll continue to debate his
impact on our nation and our world.

These are only the part of , we can see that they are divided in : who accept
his policy activity and who condemn it.

For me , was usefull to read this information because this experience will help
me in my future development in International Relations specialization .
Nowdays , it is very important to know how to manage with different kind of
information and drawing ourselves conclusions in foreign affairs for do the
best in.

Bibliography

1. https://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21586514-new-
history-sheds-fresh-light-shameful-moment-american-foreign-policy-
blood (visited 22.10.2017 )

2. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/28/world/door-opens-for-legal-actions-
chilean-coup-kissinger-numbered-among-hunted.html (visited
22.10.2017)

3. http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/10/henry-kissinger-
history-legacy-213237 (visited 22.10.2017)

4. https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1973/kissinger
-bio.html (visited 22.10
 CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I: HYSTORY

CHAPTER II: ECONOMIC STATUS

CHAPTER III: FOREIGN AFFAIRS

CHAPTER IV: POLITICAL SYSTEM

CONCLUSIONS

BIBLIOGRAPHY
 INTRODUCTION

The official name of the country is the Republic of Austria.

Its capital is Vienna.
It is a landlocked country.
It has a population of about 8.47 million inhabitants.
It is in Central Europe.
It borders with states such as: Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Switzerland,
Liechtenstein, Slovenia, Italy, Slovakia.
This country has a neutral position in foreign affairs since 1995. But is a member
of EU and member of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. And
too, from 1995 Austria joined the Partnership for Peace.
 CHAPTER I: HYSTORY

Settled in ancient times, the Central European land that is now Austria was
occupied in pre-Roman times by various Celtic tribes. The Celtic kingdom
of Noricum was later claimed by the Roman Empire and made a province. Present-
day Petronell-Carnuntum in eastern Austria was an important army camp turned
capital city in what became known as the Upper Pannonia province. Carnuntum
was home for 50,000 people for nearly 400 years.

The first record showing the name Austria is from 996, where it is written
as Ostarrîchi. In 1156, Austria obtained the status of a duchy. In the 14th and 15th
centuries, the Habsburgs began to accumulate other provinces in the vicinity of the
Duchy of Austria. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Austria participated, together with
Prussia and Russia, in the first and the third of the three Partitions of Poland (in
1772 and 1795). In the 19th century, Austria became engaged in a war
with Revolutionary France, at the beginning highly unsuccessfully, with successive
defeats at the hands of Napoleon, meaning the end of the old Holy Roman Empire
in 1806. Two years earlier, the Empire of Austria was founded. In 1814, Austria
was part of the Allied forces that invaded France and brought to an end the
Napoleonic Wars.

Later, The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, the Ausgleich, provided

for a dual sovereignty, the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary,
under Franz Joseph I. The Austrian-Hungarian rule of this diverse empire included
various Slavic groups, including Croats, Czechs, Poles, Rusyns, Serbs, Slovaks,
Slovenes, and Ukrainians, as well as large Italian and Romanian communities.

In the 20th century, Austria-Hungary participated near the Germany in the

first World War. The Treaty of Saint-Germain of 1919 (for Hungary the Treaty of
Trianon of 1920) confirmed and consolidated the new order of Central Europe
which to a great extent had been established in November 1918, creating new
states and altering others. The German-speaking parts of Austria which had been
part of Austria-Hungary were reduced to a rump state named The Republic of
German-Austria.  The Treaty of Saint Germain and the Treaty of
Versailles explicitly forbid union between Austria and Germany. The treaties also
forced German-Austria to rename itself as "Republic of Austria" which
consequently led to the first Austrian Republic. 

After the second World War, much like Germany, Austria was divided into
American, British, French, and Soviet zones and governed by the Allied
Commission for Austria. On 15 May 1955, after talks which lasted for years and
were influenced by the Cold War, Austria regained full independence by
concluding the Austrian State Treaty with the Four Occupying Powers. On 26
October 1955, after all occupation troops had left, Austria declared its "permanent
neutrality" by an act of parliament.

Today, Austria is a well-known contry that is a member of European Union,

but is a neutral one. Austria is taking part in the EU's Common Foreign and
Security Policy, participates in peacekeeping and peace creating tasks, and has
become a member of NATO's "Partnership for Peace".
 CHAPTER II: ECONOMIC STATUS

Austria consistently ranks high in terms of GDP per capita, due to its highly
industrialized economy, and well-developed social market economy. Next to a
highly developed industry, international tourism is the most important part of the
national economyand its consists of 90% in gross domestic product.

Since the fall of communism, Austrian companies have been quite active players
and consolidators in Eastern Europe.

In 1972, the country began construction of a nuclear-powered electricity-

generation station at Zwentendorf on the River Danube. Austria currently produces
more than half of its electricity by hydropower.[112] Together with other renewable
energy sources such as wind, solar and biomass powerplants.

Austria's population was estimated to be 8.72 million in April 2016 by

the Statistik Austria. Vienna is by far the country's largest city.

Austrian German is Austria's official language and used in education,

publications, announcements and websites.
 CHAPTER III: FOREIGN AFFAIRS

The 1955 Austrian State Treaty ended the occupation of Austria following

World War II and recognised Austria as an independent and sovereign
state. Austria began to reassess its definition of neutrality following the fall of
the Soviet Union.

Also in 1995, it joined NATO's Partnership for Peace and subsequently

participated in peacekeeping missions in Bosnia. Austria attaches great importance
to participation in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development and other international economic organisations, and it has played an
active role in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). As
an OSCE-participating State, Austria's international commitments are subject to
monitoring under the mandate of the U.S. Helsinki Commission.
 CHAPTER IV: POLITICAL SYSTEM
Form of the government: Austria became a federal, representative
democratic republic through the Federal Constitution of 1920.

Head of the state: The head of state is the Federal President (Bundespräsident),

who is directly elected by popular vote  for a term of six years and limited to two
consecutive terms of office. The office of the Federal President is largely
ceremonial, although the constitution allows the president to dismiss the cabinet or
to dissolve the National Council and call new elections. In present, the President of
the Austria is Sebastian Kurz.

Branches of government+ executive power: The chairman of the Federal

Government is the Federal Chancellor, who is appointed by the President. The
government can be removed from office by either a presidential decreet or by vote
of no confidence in the lower chamber of parliament, the Nationalrat. The
Federal cabinet consists of the Federal Chancellor appointed by the president and a
number of ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the
chancellor.   

Constitution: Austria's constitution characterizes the republic as

a federation consisting of nine autonomous federal states. Both the federation and
all its states have written constitutions defining them as republican entities
governed according to the principles of representative democracy.

Legislative power: The Parliament of Austria (Parlament) consists of

two chambers. The National Council (Nationalrat) has 183 members, elected for a
five-year term by proportional representation.[6] It is the predominant of the
legislature's two chambers. To be represented in parliament a party needs to either
win at least four percent of votes across the nation or win a seat (Direktmandat) in
one of the 43 regional constituencies. The politically much less significant Federal
Council (Bundesrat) currently consists of 62 members, elected by the state
legislatures (Landtage). The power of the Federal Council is rather limited, since
in most cases it has only got a suspensive veto, which can be overruled by the
National Council. However some cases, like laws limiting the competences of the
provinces, require the approval of the Federal Council. The Federal
Assembly (Bundesversammlung), which is formed by National Council and
Federal Council in joint session, is largely a ceremonial institution, its main
responsibility being the swearing in of the Federal President. Following the
accession to the European Union the parliament had to cede some of its power to
European Union institutions.

Judicial power: Supreme Court of Justice or Oberster Gerichtshof (consists of 85

judges organized into 17 senates or panels of 5 judges each); Constitutional Court
or Verfassungsgerichtshof (consists of 20 judges including 6 substitutes;
Administrative Court or Verwaltungsgerichtshof - 2 judges plus other members
depending on the importance of the case). They are appointed by the president;
judges serve for life.
 CONCLUSIONS:

There are several definitions of "political system": A political system is a complete

set of institutions, interest groups (such as political parties, trade unions, lobby
groups), the relationships between those institutions and the political norms and
rules that govern their functions (constitution, election law).

A political system is a system of politics and government. It is usually compared

to the legal system, economic system, cultural system, and other social systems.
However, this is a very simplified view of a much more complex system of
categories involving the questions of who should have authority and what the
government's influence on its people and economy should be.

On example of Austria, I showed how works political system in democratic

countries, which institutions has responds for democracy in society and the
characteristic of each.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY :

1. "Austria". Encyclopædia Britannica. 31 May 2009. Archived from the

original on 19 April 2009. Retrieved 31 May 2009.(last visit on 3rd febbruary
2018, 4PM)

2.  "Das politische System in Österreich (The Political System in

Austria)" (PDF) (in German). Vienna: Austrian Federal Press Service. 2000.
p. 24. Retrieved 9 July 2014.(last visit on 3td February 2018, 5PM)

3. https://www.bmeia.gv.at/en/ (last visit on 3rd February 2018, 5:30 PM)

4. Almond, Gabriel A., et al. Comparative Politics Today: A World

View (Seventh Edition). 2000.