THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THOUGHT OF ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI: AN INTELLECTUAL PROFILE
Abstract
This project attemps to summarize, critique and evaluate the evolution of Zbigniew Brzezinski's thinking on international relations as expressed in his published works, interviews and relevant secondary sources. For the most part, the study has restricted itself to data which was issued prior to Brzezinski's appointment to the post of National Security Advisor in 1977 under President Carter. It was reasoned that limiting the material to be considered to general international affairs and American foreign policy pronouncements and recommendations from Brzezinski's pre-White House tenure would best allow the author to produce an intellectual biography unemcumbered by political exigencies which so often accompany government service. Toward the end of the work, an effort has been made to compare and contrast Brzezinski's pre-1977 and post-1977 intellectual output to get an idea on how one academic's thinking was affected upon entry into Washington politics on an official level. Other goals of this thesis include informing the public on the mindset of a major actor on the international political stage and providing a background for those scholars who will endeavor to assess the Carter foreign policy without having to piece together on their own the intellectual underpinnings of an important architect of that policy. Many of the findings of this dissertation are tentative due to the nature of the study itself. They include the following: (1) That Brzezinski can exhibit inconsistent thinking due in part to a dilemma which marks much of his writing, the need he has perceived for containing Soviet expansionism while at the same time promoting global unity to attack the immense and interrelated problems besetting all of mankind. This intellectual tension, among other factors, helps explain why most of the varying interpretations of Brzezinski contain some truth. (2) That Brzezinski's thinking may have been affected by his Democratic Party affiliation, a feud with Henry Kissinger, his graduate education and his Polish heritage. (3) That his greatest scholarly contribution may have been his call for a more equitable, less exploitative approach by the United States toward the developing world.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
International law|International relations
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