Cold War Intelligentsia

The Ascendancy of Zbigniew Brzezinski and Henry Kissinger

Abstract

This essay, composed for a first-year writing seminar on 20th century foreign policy, compares the biographies of Kissinger and Brzezinski as elite immigrant academics in the Cold War era. The author finds that both men’s immigrant backgrounds played critical roles in informing their evaluation of the United States’ political policy regarding Soviet communism. 

For additional context, listen to the author's reflection on the piece below.