White House adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski dies
May 27, 2017
Zbigniew Brzezinski, a Polish-American political scientist and adviser to several US presidents, died Friday at 89. Brzezinski's daughter, Mika, who co-hosts the US morning talk show "Morning Joe" on the MSNBC network, announced his death on Instagram.
"My father passed away peacefully tonight. He was known to his friends as Zbig, to his grandchildren as Chief and to his wife as the enduring love of her life," read a part of the post.
European roots, international career
Brzezinski was born in Poland. He moved to Canada before eventually moving to the US. He was an expert on Communism, which attracted much attention from US lawmakers.
Brzezinski served as an adviser during President John F. Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign and pushed for detente to prevent antagonizing the Soviet Union. He then served as a counselor to Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency.
Becoming President Jimmy Carter's national security adviser immediately after Carter's inauguration, Brzezinski was confronted with many international conflicts throughout his tenure. During the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis, Brzezinski believed negotiations were going nowhere and started pushing for military action.
The former advisor was known for clashing with colleagues, including Secretary of State Cyrus Vance. The clashes eventually led to Vance's resignation.
After serving in the Carter administration, Brzezinski continued to be a major voice in US foreign policy.
Critical of Donald Trump
Brzezinski, who was active in academia well into his 80s, was critical of US President Donald Trump's foreign policy.
In his last tweet, Brzezinski wrote: "Sophisticated US leadership is the sine qua non of a stable world order. However, we lack the former while the latter is getting worse."
His other recent tweets were also dismissive of the Republican president.
In a 2011 book, "Strategic Vision: America and the Crisis of Global Power," Brzezinski argued in favor of strengthening the US presence abroad to maintain global stability.
kbd, shs/jlw (AP, AFP, Reuters)