GBH Openvault
War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Carter's New World; Interview with Zbigniew Brzezinski, 1986
Part of War and Peace in the Nuclear Age.
11/19/1986
Zbigniew Brzezinski, a Polish-American political scientist and geostrategist, was national security adviser to U.S. president Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981. In the interview he conducted for War and Peace in the Nuclear Age, Brzezinski reveals the prominent role he played in shaping foreign policy in the Carter administration. He chastises those who would make a fetish out of arms control and forget the far-reaching competitive relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union. Reflecting an internal dispute within the administration, Brzezinski amplifies his views that the Soviet Union, building upon post-Vietnam malaise, was aggressively expanding its sphere of influence through proxi-military forces. Of particular concern was Soviet expansion in the Horn of Africa, which Brzezinski sees as key to flagging interest in arms-control talks and dwindling public confidence in détente. SALT lies buried in the sands of Ogaden, he maintains. He challenges those who believed that Strategic Arms Limitation Talks with the Soviet Union should have impacted the timing of Chinas Vice Premier Deng Xiaopings visit to Washington. He further recounts the process for normalizing U.S. relations with the Peoples Republic of China, which insisted that it be regarded as the sole legal government of China. Brzezinski also discusses his support for the large, super-accurate MX missile that the United States created to expand its strategic options and to avert a situation in which your only option is responding with everything you have or not responding at all. These views culminated in August 1980s Presidential Directive 59 (PD 59), which introduced into the basic nuclear-war plan the idea of striking at the Soviet command structure. For Brzezinski, PD 59 provided enhanced deterrence by presenting greater war-fighting flexibility during a protracted limited war.
License Clip
- Series
- War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
- Program
- Carter's New World
- Program Number
109
- Title
Interview with Zbigniew Brzezinski, 1986
- Series Description
The first atomic explosion in the New Mexico desert on July 16, 1945, changed the world forever. This series chronicles these changes and the history of a new era. It traces the development of nuclear weapons, the evolution of nuclear strategy, and the politics of a world with the power to destroy itself.
In thirteen one-hour programs that combine historic footage and recent interviews with key American, Soviet, and European participants, the nuclear age unfolds: the origin and evolution of nuclear weapons; the people of the past who have shaped the events of the present; the ideas and issues that political leaders, scientists, and the public at large must confront, and the prospects for the future. Nuclear Age highlights the profound changes in contemporary thinking imposed by the advent of nuclear weapons. Series release date: 1/1989
- Program Description
President Carter comes to office determined to reduce the number of nuclear weapons and to improve relations with the Soviet Union. His frustrations are as grand as his intentions.
Carter had hoped the United States and the Soviet Union would reduce their reliance on nuclear weapons. He stopped production of the B-1 bomber. He believed the SALT II negotiations would be a step toward eliminating nuclear weapons. But his intentions were frustrated by Soviet actions and by a lack of consensus among his own advisors, including Chief SALT II negotiator Paul Warnke and national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski (who was dubious about arms control). Carter balanced Soviet aggression in Africa by improving American relations with China. He withdrew SALT II treaty from Senate consideration but its terms continued to serve as general limits on strategic nuclear force levels for both the United States and the Soviet Union.
- Duration
00:42:07
- Asset Type
Raw video
- Media Type
Video
- Subjects
- Nixon, Richard M. (Richard Milhous), 1913-1994
- International relations
- Schmidt, Helmut, 1918 Dec. 23-
- Intercontinental ballistic missiles
- Nuclear warfare
- Kohl, Helmut, 1930-
- Horn of Africa
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization
- Neutron bomb
- Nuclear weapons
- Great Britain
- Deng, Xiaoping, 1904-1997
- Ogaden (Ethiopia)
- Pakistan
- Afghanistan
- First strike (Nuclear strategy)
- China
- Ford, Gerald R., 1913-2006
- Somalia
- Carter, Jimmy, 1924-
- United States
- Strategic Arms Limitation Talks II
- MX (Weapons system)
- Brezhnev, Leonid Il?ich, 1906-1982
- Nuclear arms control
- Warnke, Paul C., 1920-2001
- Cruise missiles
- Vietnam War, 1961-1975
- Locations
- Washington, DC
- Genres
- Documentary
- Topics
- Global Affairs
- History
- War and Conflict
- Science
- Contributors
- Brzezinski, Zbigniew, 1928- (Interviewee)
- Publication Information
- WGBH Educational Foundation
- Citation
- Chicago: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Carter's New World; Interview with Zbigniew Brzezinski, 1986,” 11/19/1986, GBH Archives, accessed September 8, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_5C735628FA2741B4AEA4B2C6FFF8E068.
- MLA: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Carter's New World; Interview with Zbigniew Brzezinski, 1986.” 11/19/1986. GBH Archives. Web. September 8, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_5C735628FA2741B4AEA4B2C6FFF8E068>.
- APA: War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Carter's New World; Interview with Zbigniew Brzezinski, 1986. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_5C735628FA2741B4AEA4B2C6FFF8E068