Being There

On a more serious note, Kissinger told the audience at a panel discussion on foreign policy that America can cultivate democracy around the world, but that dictating a shift from totalitarianism wouldn't take root.

For example, Kissinger said the pace of change in China, which has 4,000 years of history, won't be overnight.

"Societies are organisms," Kissinger told about 200 people attending the panel discussion. "There are rates of change that they can absorb."

Forcing changes more urgently, whether in China or smaller countries, can backfire. "It's beyond our capacity and involves us in tragedies that in time will become unmanageable," he said.

The panel on democracy and America's role in the world was among a week's worth of sessions covering a variety of issues, including climate change and foreign aid, which the institute hosted to coincide with the Republican National Convention.

While secretary of state, Kissinger recalled chatting confidentially with the Soviet Union's ambassador, Anatoly Dobrynin, to boost emigration. Figures rose until international pressure grew, Kissinger said, which prompted the Soviets to tighten the screws again.

Likewise, political, economic and cultural factors will encourage China toward greater democracy better than a strictly military confrontation.

"We don't want to produce a generation of Chinese nationalists, as a substitute for the communists," said Kissinger, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973.

He cited Saudi Arabia as an example of a country where democratic elections might yield an even less cooperative country in the Middle East.

"What you do with Saudi Arabia is a question that has defeated every administration I've ever worked with," Kissinger said. "Every administration had kicked the can."

(By Bart Jansen, CQ Staff Writer)