Zbigniew Brzezinski

Zbigniew Brzezinski served as national security advisor to the president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. In 1981, Brzezinski received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his role in the normalization of U.S. Chinese relations, and for his contributions to the human rights and national security policies of the United States.      

This former member of the Columbia University (1960-89) and Harvard University (1953-60) faculties is currently a professor of American Foreign Policy at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a counselor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Brzezinski's other positions include being a member of the Board of Directors of the National Endowment for Democracy the honorary chair of the AmeriCares Foundation a member of the Board of Trustees of Freedom House a trustee of the Trilateral Commission a member of the Board of Directors of the Polish American Enterprise Fund and chair of the American Ukrainian Advisory Committee.

Additionally, Zbigniew Brzezinski serves as an international advisor to several major US/global corporations, and is president of Z.B., Inc., a firm that advises corporations and financial institutions on international issues.

Zbigniew Brzezinski is a public speaker, commentator on major domestic and foreign TV public affairs programs, and frequent contributor to domestic and foreign newspapers and journals. He has authored many books, including: The Grand Failure: The Birth and Death of Communism in the 20th Century; Game Plan: How to Conduct the U.S. Soviet Contest; Power and Principle: The Memoirs of the National Security Advisor; The Soviet Bloc: Unity and Conflict; Out of Control: Global Turmoil on the Eve of the 21st Century; Between Two Ages: America's Role in the Technetronic Era and The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and its Geostrategic Imperatives. His most recent book, Second Chance: Three Presidents and the Crisis of American Superpower was published in Spring 2007.

His former public and political positions include serving as director of the Trilateral Commission (1973-76), member of the Policy Planning Council of the Department of State (1966- 68), and co chairman of the Bush National Security Advisory Task Force (1988). Zbigniew Brzezinski is also a past member of the Boards of Directors of Amnesty International and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1928, Brzezinski, the son of a diplomat posted to Canada in 1938, earned his B.A. (1949) and M.A. (1950) at McGill University and his Ph.D. at Harvard University (1953). He holds honorary degrees from several universities. In 1995, he was awarded the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest civilian decoration, for his contributions to Poland's recovery of its independence. He has also received the Hubert Humphrey Award from the Policy Studies Organization, Ford and Guggenheim Foundation fellowships, as well as many other honors.