2017年CRI Zbigniew Brzezinski, former US National Security Advisor, dies at 89

 

Zbigniew Brzezinski is pictured in a file photo. [Photo: 360doc.com]

Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Adviser¹ to former US President Jimmy Carter, has died at the age of 89. Brzezinski's passing was announced by his daughter, Mika, late Friday.

Brzezinski was known as an important figure who helped to lay the groundwork for the normalization² of ties between the US and China.

Born in Warsaw, Poland in 1928, Brzezinski moved to Canada with his family in 1938. He moved to the US and received a doctorate³ in government from Harvard University in 1953.

Due to his books and articles on the Soviet⁴ Union in the 1950s, Brzezinski established his status as an expert on the Soviet Union and began to attract the attention of the White House. He served as a counselor⁵ to former US President Lyndon Johnson from 1966 to 1968 and was Carter's National Security Adviser from 1977 to 1981.

In May 1978, Brzezinski paid his first visit to China to lay the groundwork for the normalization of the relationship between China and the US. Speaking in 2014, Brzezinski said meeting with the Chinese leadership in 1978 was "one of the most intense, significant and engaging activity" in which he had participated.

"I do have to say, and particularly so to Chinese friends, that getting to know Deng Xiaoping was a source of enormous gratification to me. This was a genuine leader with a sense of direction but also with a sense of the larger picture in which you would operate," remarked the former US official.

Also in 1978, Brzezinski helped Carter to attain⁶ the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. He was a major player behind the failed US mission in 1980 to rescue US hostages held in Iran after the overthrow⁷ of the Shah of Iran.

Brzezinski was awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981 for his role in the normalization of the US-China relationship and his contributions to US national security policies and human rights.

After the Carter presidency⁸, Brzezinski became a professor of American foreign policy at Johns Hopkins University and a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

Despite his retirement⁹ from US politics, Brzezinski remained an acute observer of later US administrations and US-China relations. He was an outspoken¹⁰ critic of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq from the very beginning.

Speaking late last year at a joint¹¹ session with Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai, Brzezinski called on both China and the US to keep closer dialogue against an increasing complex world political background.

"I think the final analysis is the question of frequency of contact at higher levels and genuine openness and sincerity¹² in the interaction. Unless we do that in a systematic¹³ basis, the process will become increasingly formalistic and meaningless. And I think the right time for doing something like this is now," said Brzezinski.

1 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

2 normalization   

n.（normalisation）正常化，标准化

参考例句：

• The visit signalled the normalization of relations between the two countries.这次访问显示两国关系已经正常化。
• He was pleased to the normalization of relationship between the police and the people.他很高兴警方和人民之间关系的正常化。

3 doctorate   

n.(大学授予的)博士学位

参考例句：

• He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
• Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士？

4 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

5 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

6 attain   

vt.达到，获得，完成

参考例句：

• I used the scientific method to attain this end. 我用科学的方法来达到这一目的。
• His painstaking to attain his goal in life is praiseworthy. 他为实现人生目标所下的苦功是值得称赞的。

7 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

8 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

9 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

10 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

11 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

12 sincerity   

n.真诚，诚意；真实

参考例句：

• His sincerity added much more authority to the story.他的真诚更增加了故事的说服力。
• He tried hard to satisfy me of his sincerity.他竭力让我了解他的诚意。

13 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。