In the world of 20th-century geopolitics and diplomacy, few names shine as brightly as that of politician and influencer Henry Alfred Kissinger. This man, born in Germany in 1923 and fleeing Nazism, emigrated to the United States. He became an iconic and transcendental figure in shaping the world as we know it today.
Kissinger was, without a doubt, the most influential person of the last century, the architect of many of the circumstances we are experiencing on the planet today, and his contributions to global geopolitics continue to leave their mark on our present. If you’re unfamiliar with the figure, it’s probably because you don’t know much about geopolitics and also because he knew how to “govern” from anonymity, being an influencer behind the most important, controversial, and disparate political figures.
One of the most notable aspects of Kissinger’s influence was his ability to navigate among the leaders of the world’s most powerful nations. As US Secretary of State under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, Kissinger had the rare privilege of lunching in the Kremlin with Soviet leaders and dining at the White House with US presidents, all in the same day and during times of greatest turbulence in that bipolar world.
His ability to relate to figures as diverse as Chinese leader Mao Zedong, as well as communist and capitalist leaders, made him a crucial player in international diplomacy and a key architect of the economic globalization we know today. So, let me tell you, China is what it is today because Kissinger planned it. How about that?
But what does Henry Kissinger have to do with baseball and its globalization? Surprisingly, much more than we might imagine. Although Kissinger is best known for his love of soccer, a sport he played in his youth in Germany before being expelled by the Nazi regime due to his Jewish origins.
In 1978, thanks to Kissinger’s diplomatic astuteness and his understanding of the growing globalization of sports brands and the omnipresence of the dollar as a global currency, the FIFA World Cup was held in Argentina. It was the most media-focused World Cup at the time, with the first major sponsors and the first Adidas World Cup ball.
This event marked a milestone in the internationalization of sport and demonstrated that a political figure could play an important role in the world of sports. That World Cup, although unfortunately organized under an Argentine military dictatorship, conveyed the message that sport was above politics. “Sport is a peaceful war,” some say.
Kissinger didn’t stop there. In 1994, the FIFA World Cup was held in the United States, an achievement that can be partly attributed to the diplomat’s influence. This act not only boosted soccer in the United States, but also reinforced the idea that sport could serve as a vehicle for diplomacy and global influence. Soccer is what it is for many reasons, of course, but one of those main reasons was Kissinger.
So why do we talk about Kissinger in relation to baseball? The answer is simple: if we want baseball to globalize in the same way soccer did in its day, we need an influential figure comparable to Henry Kissinger.
The Abraham Accords and the Expansion of Baseball in the Middle East
The 2020 Abraham Accords in the Middle East are a contemporary example of how influential figures in geopolitics may be opening the door for baseball to take root in regions where it has so far been a marginal sport.
Kissinger’s worldview, based on pragmatic diplomacy and the pursuit of common interests, could be valuable in taking baseball beyond the borders of the Americas and the Caribbean and turning it into a truly global sport.
In an increasingly interconnected world, sport has become a fundamental element of diplomacy and international influence, and Kissinger understood this better than anyone for many decades. Sport is magical because it transcends politics, and politicians know this better than anyone.
Henry Kissinger was a giant in the realm of diplomacy and world politics, and his influence even extended to the world of sports. If we want to see baseball globalized in the same way as soccer, we need influential leaders who can open doors and build bridges between cultures. The globalization of baseball needs an influencer like Henry Kissinger, someone capable of uniting nations through this exciting sport.
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