Zbigniew Brzezinski in his office in 1981 (Getty)
Americano

Was Zbigniew Brzezinski a Cold War prophet?

Listen & Subscribe

Polish émigré Zbigniew Brzezinski – known as “Zbig” – rose to prominence in America during the Cold War as a key intellectual architect of US foreign policy. He was national security advisor to President Carter and was a trusted advisor to many US presidents from John F. Kennedy onwards. Yet, despite helping to shape American foreign policy during critical moments, he is not as well-known or celebrated as his lifelong rival Henry Kissinger.  

The Financial Times’s chief US columnist Edward Luce joins Freddy Gray on this episode of Americano to talk about his new book Zbig: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America’s Cold War Prophet. The book aims to bridge the gap in the historiography of the Cold War and looks at Zbig’s legacy – from preventing a Soviet invasion of Poland, to strengthening relations with China, to shaping America’s response to 9/11. Was Zbig a Cold War prophet?

About the show

Americano
US politics and analysis, delivering in-depth discussions with the best American pundits. Presented by Freddy Gray.

More from The District

  • Left-wing violence is being normalized
    In the July edition of The Spectator, author and anthropologist Max Horder argues the US is experiencing a change in its psyche, and left-wing violence is being normalized. He joins Freddy Gray on the Americano podcast to discuss the various examples attached to this, and what the dereliction of democratic disagreement means for us all.
  • Did the swamp drain Elon Musk?
    Elon Musk and President Donald Trump have had a very public falling out. Musk, whose time running the Department of Government Efficiency (DoGE) came to an end last month, publicly criticized Trump’s spending bill (the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”). The row then erupted onto social media with Trump expressing his disappointment with Musk, Musk … Read more
  • blm
    America’s white guilt hangover
    From the decline of meritocracy to the rise of anti-Western ideology, author Heather Mac Donald joins Freddy Gray to discuss race, merit, and victim hierarchy. Why is the West so desperate to self-cancel? And is now a moment of reckoning considering we’re five years on from the BLM protests?
  • sam altman
    What does Sam Altman want?
    Freddy Gray speaks to writer and author Karen Hao, whose new book Empire of AI looks at a new, ominous age of empire with OpenAI. On the podcast they discuss the impacts of artificial intelligence on society and democracy and how OpenAI founder Sam Altman has become a controversial figure. 
  • Errol Musk on Trump versus white racism in South Africa
    Donald Trump exposed South Africa’s leader Cyril Ramaphosa in the White House yesterday over what he referred to as white racism against the farmers in South Africa. Freddy Gray speaks to Errol Musk — father of Elon Musk — from Cape Town about Trump’s confrontation. Errol shares personal experiences of being attacked on a farm, … Read more
More Stories