"Book Review: Zbigniew Brzezinski, Foreign Policy
Sage"
by Michael D. Mosettig
As Vaisse details through the biography, Brzezinski was a foremost example of a respected scholar who realized early on he wanted to play on a larger
field, the man of action who could influence events. It turned out to be a blessing when Harvard denied him tenure, and he moved to Columbia, which was
that much closer to Washington and then an epicenter of foreign policy networking, especially the Council on Foreign Relations.
He was the networker par excellence, serving on the State Department policy planning staff in the Johnson administration, a key adviser in Hubert
Humphrey’s losing 1968 campaign, creator of the Trilateral Commission which brought him and then Georgia Governor Carter together.
If I have any qualms about this book, it is that the younger readers whom I see at Washington thinktank events will absorb all the networking lessons but
skim by the prodigious, prolific hard work Brzezinski put in, a constant stream of articles and books. Vaisse’s research is equally prodigious with only a few
minor mistakes, such as labeling Navy officer Carter a Marine, placing Sen. Jesse Helms in the wrong Carolina and he or his translator confusing names of
congressional committees.
Use the passage to answer the question.
Which sentence from the passage reflects the reviewer’s claim that the book is well-researched with some small errors?
(1 point)
“As Vaisse details through the biography, Brzezinski was a
foremost example of a respected scholar who realized early
on he wanted to play on a larger field, the man of action who
could influence events.”
“Vaisse’s research is equally prodigious with only a few minor
mistakes, such as labeling Navy officer Carter a Marine,
placing Sen. Jesse Helms in the wrong Carolina and he or
his translator confusing names of congressional committees.”
“If I have any qualms about this book, it is that the younger
readers whom I see at Washington thinktank events will
absorb all the networking lessons but skim by the prodigious,
prolific hard work Brzezinski put in, a constant stream of
articles and books.”
“It turned out to be a blessing when Harvard denied him
tenure, and he moved to Columbia, which was that much
closer to Washington and then an epicenter of foreign policy
networking, especially the Council on Foreign Relations.”