Zbigniew Brzezinski: America’s Grand Strategist

484 Pages·2018·12.12 MB·English

by  Justin Vaïsse

Zbigniew Brzezinski

Zbigniew Brzezinski
AMER I CA’S GRAND STRATEGIST
Justin Vaïsse
translated by catherine porter
Cambridge, Mas sa chu setts · London, England
2018
Copyright © 2018 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of Ameri ca
first printing
This book was originally published in French as
Zbigniew Brzezinski. Stratège de l’empire,
copyright Odile Jacob, 2016.
Library of Congress Cataloging-i n- Publication Data
Names: Vaïsse, Justin, author. | Porter, Catherine, 1941– translator.
Title: Zbigniew Brzezinski : Amer i ca’s grand strategist / Justin Vaisse ;
translated by Catherine Porter.
Other titles: Zbigniew Brzezinski. En glish
Description: Cambridge, Mass a chu setts : Harvard University Press, 2018. | “This book
was originally published in French as Zbigniew Brzezinski. Stratege de l’empire, copyright
Odile Jacob, 2016.” | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017039431 | ISBN 9780674975637 (cloth)
Subjects: LCSH: Brzezinski, Zbigniew, 1928-2017. | Statesmen— United States—B iography. |
Polish Americans—B iography. | National security— United States—H istory—20th  century. |
United States—F oreign relations—20th  century. | United States— Strategic aspects.
Classification: LCC E840.8.B79 .V3413 2018 | DDC 355 / .033073092 [B]—d c23
LC reco rd available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2017039431
Cover design: Jill Breitbarth
Cover art: Photo by Mandel Ngan / AFP / Getty Images
Contents
Introduction 1
1 A Brilliant Young Man in the Cold War University 15
2 A Po liti cal Adviser Is Born 67
3 The Rise of a New Foreign Policy Elite 117
4 From the Trilateral Commission to the White House 157
5 Portrait of an Academic in Politics 213
6 In the White House 271
7 The Age of Authority 359
Conclusion 403
Notes 413
Acknowl edgments 479
Index 481
Publications Index 501

Zbigniew Brzezinski

Introduction
In September 1938, a ten- year- old boy named Zbigniew Brzezinski arrived in
New York by boat from Poland with his family. He was not fleeing persecution
or poverty; his father had been appointed as Poland’s consul general in Mon-
treal, and the boy spent his adolescence in Canada, sheltered from the turmoil
of the Second World War. Still, he kept his ears tuned to the radio and his
eyes fixed on a map of battle sites, as his heart was with the Allied armies. He
watched helplessly as Nazi Germany and then the Soviet Union subjugated
Poland and the rest of Eastern Eu rope. These years shaped his vocation; he
went on to become an expert in the international politics that had deprived
him of his birthplace. His admission to Harvard in 1950 made him more than
a specialist in the communist world; it made him an American, by inclination
and by conviction, long before he became a US citizen in 1958.
In the 1960s, the young immigrant with the unpronounceable name became
a respected professor and made his mark in his field with several impor tant
books; his media appearances familiarized the public with his accent. He was
also an influential adviser whose opinions were sought by pol iti cal decision
makers and candidates for elected office; he was consulted on the Vietnam War,
on the conflicts in the M iddle East, and on policies related to Eur ope and the
USSR. In the 1970s, he took an interest in a Demo cratic governor named Jimmy
Car ter, an outsider like himself, a relatively unknown figure who wanted to
become president of the United States. This g amble propelled Brzezinski to the
command center of the American empire in the m iddle of the Cold War. His
role as Car ter’s national security adviser allowed him to fulfill his vocation; in
it, he was able to influence the course of international politics and chip away at
1