Ex-US Secretary of State Kissinger Says World Currently Lacks 'Transcendent' Leaders

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger told USA Today he sees no politicians today on par with the world leaders of the past century.

Kissinger gave the interview on the occasion of the release of his new book which is about six leaders that helped deal with challenges following World War Two.

When asked whether he believes there are any comparably "transcendent" leaders that the current times require, Kissinger replied: "No."

"Painful," he added. "In fairness to the current leaders, they haven't had quite the occasion yet, either ... But you could argue, and I would argue, that great leaders make the occasion."

Kissinger noted that the challenges now are worse than those the six leaders in the book had to deal with.

"Because then, our critics were part of the same system ... What is happening now is – the debate is about the worthiness of America, whether America and what kind of America is worth it to conduct policy. That makes the dialogue even harder than it was then in terms of our internal debate," he explained.

While Kissinger said he is worried that appropriate leaders won't emerge in time, he still believes that new leaders would rise to the challenge.

Kissinger's book talks about West Germany's Konrad Adenauer, France's Charles de Gaulle, 37th US President Richard Nixon, Egypt's Anwar Sadat, Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew and the UK's Margaret Thatcher.

Kissinger dealt with each of these leaders.

Kissinger is known for his efforts to ease tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, as well as for opening up relations between the United States and China during his time at the State Department and as national security advisor.