Getty Images
Henry Kissinger said democracies in the West, including in the US, are in "great danger" because the middle class is disappearing due to widening income inequalities.
In comments to Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer, Business Insider's parent company, the former top diplomat said the middle class created Western democracy at a time of no "fundamental" political differences, with "respect" for the opposition and "relative" technological stability.
However, now values of "compromise" and "understanding" are in "great danger in the West," he said.
Kissinger cited the rapidly evolving technological changes and inequalities of incomes, which he said are more "obvious" now than they were in the past.
The one-on-one interview with Döpfner, released last month, turned out to be Kissinger's last major media appearance. He died on Wednesday, aged 100.
The world has experienced a continuous decline in democracy over the past six years, according to the Global State of Democracy 2023 report. This was the longest period of deterioration since records began in 1975, it said.
The report, created by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, based this on representation, rights, the rule of law, and participation.
In several countries, including the US, "the erosion of democratic norms has been engineered by leaders claiming to speak in the name of, and with the authority of, the people," it said.
According to prominent economists, widening income inequalities are exacerbating the democratic deficit, with the influence of big money denting existing political systems.
Because of these growing issues, democracy needs to "rebuild itself," Kissinger said, with this becoming a "key issue" in the US and the rest of the world.
