By Henry A. Kissinger, Published: June 1, 2012 Henry A.
Kissinger was U.S. Secretary of State from 1973 to 1977. The
Arab Spring is generally discussed in terms of the prospects for
democracy. Equally significant is the increasing appeal — most
recently in Syria — of outside intervention to bring about
regime change, overturning prevalent notions of international
order. The modern concept of world order arose in 1648 from the
Treaty of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years’ War. In that
conflict, competing dynasties sent armies across political
borders to impose their conflicting religious norms. This 17th-
century version of regime change killed perhaps a third of the
population of Central Europe. To prevent a repetition of this
carnage, the Treaty of Westphalia separated international from
domestic politics. States, built on national and cultural units,
were deemed sovereign within their borders; international
politics was confined to their interaction across established
boundaries. For the founders, the