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Zbigniew Brzezinski photo by http://www.prezydent.pl –

Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Zbigniew Brzezinski

Zbigniew Kazimierz BrzeziÅ„ski was born on 28 March 1928 –and died on 26 May 2017. Zbig was a Polish-American diplomat and political scientist. He served as a counselor to President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1966 to 1968 and was President Jimmy Carter’s National Security Advisor from 1977 to 1981.

As a scholar, Brzezinski belonged to the realist school of international relations, standing in the geopolitical tradition of Halford Mackinder and Nicholas J. Spykman, while elements of liberal idealism have also been identified in his outlook. Let’s proceed to the top ten fascinating facts about Zbigniew Brzezinski.

1. The town of Brzeżany is thought to be the source of his family name

Zbigniew Brzezinski was born in Warsaw, Poland, into an aristocratic Roman Catholic family originally from Brzeżany, Tarnopol Voivodeship. The town of Brzeżany is thought to be the source of the family name.

Brzezinski’s parents were Leonia BrzeziÅ„ska and Tadeusz BrzeziÅ„ski, a Polish diplomat who was posted to Germany from 1931 to 1935.

2. Brzezinski was very sharp in his studies

Zbigniew Brzezinski photo by Tobias Kleinschmidt –

TOP 1O FASCINTING FACTS ABOUT LECH WALESA

After attending Loyola College in Montreal, Brzezinski entered McGill University in 1945 to obtain both his Bachelor’s and Master of Arts degrees (received in 1949 and 1950 respectively).

His Master’s thesis focused on the various nationalities within the Soviet Union. Brzezinski’s plan for pursuing further studies in the United Kingdom in preparation for a diplomatic career in Canada fell through, principally because he was ruled ineligible for a scholarship he had won that was only open to British subjects.

Brzezinski then attended Harvard University to work on a doctorate with Merle Fainsod, focusing on the Soviet Union and the relationship between the October Revolution, Vladimir Lenin’s state, and the actions of Joseph Stalin. He received his Ph.D. in 1953.

3. Brzezinski was the primary organizer of The Trilateral Commission

Zbigniew Brzenzinski photo by Kightlinger, Jack E. –

The Trilateral Commission is a nongovernmental international organization aimed at fostering closer cooperation between Japan, Western Europe, and North America. It was founded in July 1973 principally by American banker and philanthropist David Rockefeller, an internationalist.

The commission was specifically to address the challenges posed by the growing economic and political interdependence between the U.S. and its allies in North America, Western Europe, and Japan. Brzezinski was the primary organizer of The Trilateral Commission.

Brzezinski co-founded the Trilateral Commission with David Rockefeller, serving as director from 1973 to 1976. The Trilateral Commission is a group of prominent political and business leaders and academics primarily from the United States, Western Europe, and Japan.

4. He worked at Harvard as a professor

Brzezinski attended Harvard University to work on a doctorate with Merle Fainsod, focusing on the Soviet Union and the relationship between the October Revolution, Vladimir Lenin’s state, and the actions of Joseph Stalin. He also got his Ph.D. from the institution.

He returned to the faculty of Harvard University from 1953 to 1960. As a Harvard professor, he argued against Dwight Eisenhower’s and John Foster Dulles’s policy of rollback, saying that antagonism would push Eastern Europe further toward the Soviets.

The Polish protests followed by the Polish October and the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 lent some support to Brzezinski’s idea that the Eastern Europeans could gradually counter Soviet domination.

5. Madeleine Albright is a student of Brzezinski

A photo of Madeleine Albright by Chatham House –

Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 64th United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, Albright was the first woman to hold that post.

In 1959, Harvard awarded an associate professorship to Henry Kissinger, a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant, instead of Brzezinski. Brzezinski then moved to New York City to teach at Columbia University.

Here he wrote Soviet Bloc: Unity and Conflict, which focused on Eastern Europe since the beginning of the Cold War. He also taught future Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who, like Brzezinski’s widow Emily, was of Czech descent, and whom he also mentored during her early years in Washington.

6. Brzezinski was an advisor to the John F. Kennedy campaign

John F. Kennedy photo by Cecil Stoughton, White House –

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, often referred to by his initials JFK, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination near the end of his third year in office.

Kennedy was the youngest person to assume the presidency by election. He was also the youngest president at the end of his tenure. During the 1960 U.S. presidential elections,
Brzezinski became John’s advisor.

As an advisor, Brzezinski was urging a non-antagonistic policy toward Eastern European governments. Seeing the Soviet Union as having entered a period of stagnation, both economic and political, Brzezinski predicted a future breakup of the Soviet Union along lines of nationality.

7. Brzezinski supported Lyndon Johnson’s presidential campaign

A photo of Lyndon Johnson by

The 1964 United States presidential election was the 45th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 3, 1964. Incumbent Democratic United States President Lyndon B. Johnson defeated Barry Goldwater, the Republican nominee, in a landslide.

Apart from supporting Lyndon Johnson’s presidential campaign Brzezinski also supported the Great Society and civil rights policies, while on the other hand, he saw Soviet leadership as having been purged of any creativity following the ousting of Khrushchev.

8. Carter made Brzezinski National Security Advisor in 1976

Carter announced his candidacy for the 1976 presidential campaign to a skeptical media and proclaimed himself an “eager student” of Brzezinski. Brzezinski became Carter’s principal foreign policy advisor by late 1975.

Brzezinski became an outspoken critic of the Nixon-Kissinger over-reliance on détente, a situation preferred by the Soviet Union, favoring the Helsinki process instead, which focused on human rights, international law, and peaceful engagement in Eastern Europe.

Brzezinski was considered to be the Democrats’ response to Republican Henry Kissinger. Carter engaged his incumbent opponent for the presidency, Gerald Ford, in foreign policy debates by contrasting the Trilateral vision with Ford’s détente.

After his victory in 1976, Carter made Brzezinski National Security Advisor. Brzezinski began by emphasizing the “Basket III” human rights in the Helsinki Final Act, which inspired Charter 77 in Czechoslovakia shortly thereafter.

9. Brzezinski returned to teaching after his role as a National Security Adviser

After his role as National Security Adviser came to a close, Brzezinski returned to teaching but remained an influential voice in international relations. Polish politician Radek Sikorski wrote that to Poles, Brzezinski was considered “our statesman” and he was one of the most revered voices in Poland.

10. Brzezinski’s funeral was one of a kind

President Jimmy Carter by White House –

Brzezinski died at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Virginia, on May 26, 2017, at the age of 89. His funeral was held June 9 at the Cathedral of St. Matthew in Washington, D.C. Former President Carter and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright were among those who gave eulogies.

Other attendees included international diplomats and emissaries; journalists Carl Bernstein, Chuck Todd, and David Ignatius; 100-year-old Gen. Edward Rowny; former National Security Adviser Susan E. Rice; and former National Security Advisor, Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster. His funeral was attended by big personalities.