Zbigniew Brzezinski Quotes

American - Politician March 28, 1928 - May 26, 2017

Anniversaries are like birthdays: occasions to celebrate and to think ahead, usually among friends with whom one shares not only the past but also the future. Zbigniew Brzezinski

Future, Celebrate, Past, Friends, Think

Commitment and credibility go hand in hand. Zbigniew Brzezinski

Commitment, Hand, Credibility, Go

I cite these events because I think they underline two very disturbing phenomena - the loss of U.S. international credibility, the growing U.S. international isolation. Zbigniew Brzezinski

Isolation, Loss, Think, Growing, Events

Americans don't learn about the world; they don't study world history, other than American history in a very one-sided fashion, and they don't study geography. Zbigniew Brzezinski

History, World, Fashion, American, Learn

The Chinese are really good at diplomacy - and even at making their interlocutors feel very uncomfortable. Zbigniew Brzezinski

Good, Feel, Uncomfortable, Diplomacy

A waning United States would likely be more nationalistic, more defensive about its national identity, more paranoid about its homeland security, and less willing to sacrifice resources for the sake of others' development. Zbigniew Brzezinski

Identity, Sacrifice, Security, Others

Bipartisanship helps to avoid extremes and imbalances. It causes compromises and accommodations. So let's cooperate. Zbigniew Brzezinski

Avoid, Bipartisanship, Extremes, Causes

There's no point considering something which is very unrealistic. Zbigniew Brzezinski

Something, Point, Unrealistic, No Point

During the twentieth century, men fought on behalf of nationalism. Yet the wars they fought were also engendered by dislocations in world markets and by social revolution stimulated by the coming of the industrial age. Zbigniew Brzezinski

Age, Men, World, Revolution, Nationalism

Sovereignty is a word that is used often but it has really no specific meaning. Sovereignty today is nominal. Any number of countries that are sovereign are sovereign only nominally and relatively. Zbigniew Brzezinski

Today, Meaning, Sovereignty, Only, Used

The difference between the Bush I war against Iraq and the Bush II war against Iraq is that in the first one, we appealed to the sentiments and interests of the different groupings in the region and had them with us. In the second one, we did it on our own, on the basis of false premises, with extremely brutality and lack of political skill. Zbigniew Brzezinski

War, Political, Difference, Skill, Own

The culture of self-gratification and deregulation that began during the Clinton years and continued under President George W. Bush led to the bursting of one stock market bubble at the turn of the century and a full-scale financial crash less than a decade later. Zbigniew Brzezinski

Culture, Financial, Stock Market, Turn

One-sided national economic triumphs cannot be achieved in the increasingly interwoven global economy without precipitating calamitous consequences for everyone. Zbigniew Brzezinski

Consequences, Economy, Everyone, Without

War on terrorism defines the central preoccupation of the United States in the world today, and it does reflect in my view a rather narrow and extremist vision of foreign policy of the world's first superpower, of a great democracy, with genuinely idealistic traditions. Zbigniew Brzezinski

Today, War, Vision, Great, Democracy

In Iraq we must succeed. Failure is not an option. Zbigniew Brzezinski

Failure, Succeed, Must, Option, Iraq

The Soviet Union's termination, which brought to an end the bipolar world, ushered in an era of U.S. hegemony. Hegemony, however, should not be confused with omnipotence. Hegemony is not omnipotence but is certainly preponderance. Zbigniew Brzezinski

End, World, Confused, Soviet, Should

The Sino-American competition involves two significant realities that distinguish it from the Cold War: neither party is excessively ideological in its orientation; and both parties recognize that they really need mutual accommodation. Zbigniew Brzezinski

War, Competition, Cold, Party, Two, Need

I draw a very clear distinction between populism and democracy. Zbigniew Brzezinski

Democracy, Clear, Distinction, Between

We don't have a public that really understands the world anymore, and in the age of complexity, that problem becomes much more difficult. Zbigniew Brzezinski

Age, World, Problem, Difficult, More

You go to Paris, or you go to Portugal, you go to Poland, and you ask, 'Who are you people?' They'll tell you, we're Portuguese, we're Spanish, we're Polish. Who are the people that are really European? The people in Brussels, in the E.U. bureaucracy. Europe has not been able to move to the level of patriotic identification with the concept. Zbigniew Brzezinski

People, Paris, You, Bureaucracy, Go, Ask

Only a dynamic and strategically-minded America, together with a unifying Europe, can jointly promote a larger and more vital West, one capable of acting as a responsible partner to the rising and increasingly assertive East. Zbigniew Brzezinski

Together, Partner, America, Acting, Only

America's victory in the Cold War was not without painful social costs. Zbigniew Brzezinski

War, Victory, Cold, America, Painful

Fear obscures reason, intensifies emotions, and makes it easier for demagogic politicians to mobilize the public on behalf of the policies they want to pursue. Zbigniew Brzezinski

Fear, Emotions, Want, Reason, Pursue

The first 'world' war was in reality the last European war fought by globally significant European powers. Zbigniew Brzezinski

War, World, Reality, Last, First, Powers

During the nineteenth century, men died believing in the cause of royalty or republicanism. In reality, much of their sacrifice was rendered on the altar of the new nationalism. Zbigniew Brzezinski

Men, Sacrifice, Reality, Royalty, New

Look at Islam in a rational manner and without demagoguery or emotion. It is the leading religion of the world with 1.5 billion followers. Zbigniew Brzezinski

Religion, World, Look, Islam, Without

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