Weatherhead East Asia Institute Director Lien-Hang T. Nguyen, Dorothy Borg Associate Professor in the History of the United States and East Asia at Columbia University, is one of several historians of the Vietnam War featured in KISSINGER, a new two-part PBS American Experience documentary that explores US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s life, career, and global legacy.
Directed by Barak Goodman, the film examines the controversial diplomat’s complex role in shaping US foreign policy during the Cold War—with particular consequences for China, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Chile—through declassified historical records, archival footage, and interviews with historians, journalists, and Kissinger’s own proteges and colleagues.
In its review, the New York Times calls the documentary a "judicious, evenhanded film," noting that “writers and scholars with roots in countries where Kissinger’s decisions played out, including Ariel Dorfman, Sophal Ear, Lien-Hang Nguyen, Khatharya Um and Jianying Zha, offer crucial perspective.”
Part I premiered on PBS last night, and Part II airs tonight, October 28th, from 9:00–10:30 pm ET. Both episodes will be available to stream online for a limited time through the PBS American Experience website, app, and YouTube channel. Watch the trailer below to learn more about this in-depth look at one of the most influential and divisive figures in 20th-century diplomacy.
