S6E4: US Cold War Endgame Strategy: Zbigniew Brzezinski, with Edward Luce

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Nov 4, 2025

Edward Luce, North America editor at the Financial Times and author of a biography on Zbigniew Brzezinski, delves into Brzezinski's pivotal role in shaping U.S. Cold War strategy as National Security Advisor to President Carter. He contrasts Brzezinski's human-rights-focused stance with Kissinger’s détente, evaluates the long-term effects of their policies, and discusses how Brzezinski advocated for defending Ukraine and managing China. Luce also reflects on Brzezinski's skeptical view of the Cold War's true end and his unique approach to bureaucratic politics.

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INSIGHT

From Detente To Ideological Offensive

Brzezinski rejected 1970s détente and weaponized human rights to undermine the USSR.
He shifted U.S. policy from accommodation to ideological pressure and dissident support.

INSIGHT

China And Afghanistan As Cold War Levers

Normalising relations with China weakened the Soviet bloc by opening an eastern flank pressure point.
The Afghanistan policy further degraded Soviet power but had problematic long-term blowback.

INSIGHT

Carter's Strategy Shaped Reagan's Victory

Carter and Brzezinski set the strategic foundations Reagan inherited and amplified.
Much credit for the Cold War's end is commonly given to Reagan, but Carter's policies played a decisive role.

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Edward Luce discusses how Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Advisor to President Carter, sought to bring down the USSR and end the Cold War by magnifying the Politburo' dilemmas.

During the Cold War, two dominant émigré figures emerged in United States national security strategy making: Henry Kissinger (Republican) and Zbigniew Brzezinski (Democrat). Zbigniew Brzezinski played a pivotal behind-the-scenes role in Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign, later serving as Carter's National Security Advisor. Often described as the realist 'Yin' to Carter's idealistic 'Yang,' Brzezinski was a trusted confidant of the President. However, his often-hawkish foreign policy stance created tensions within the Democratic Party and led to challenging relationships with colleagues in the State Department and Department of Defence. His efforts to bring down the Soviet Union earned the admiration of Ronald Reagan, whose Republican administration continued many of Brzezinski's policies. The consequences of some of these policies, though, caused problems later.

Edward Luce is the North America Editor of the Financial Times. He published a recent biography of Zbigniew Brzezinski that sought to reclaim Brzezinski's reputation as a leading architect of the strategy that brought the Cold War to an end without it becoming hot.