“Missing from much of the public debate is discussion of the simple fact that lurking behind every terroristic act is a specific political antecedent. That does not justify either the perpetrator or his political cause. Nonetheless, the fact is that almost all terrorist activity originates from some political conflict and is sustained by it as well.”

Polish-American diplomat and political scientist

Zbigniew Brzeziński was a Polish-American diplomat and political scientist. He is known for his role in U.S. foreign policy and for his work as a scholar of international relations. He served as a counselor to Lyndon B. Johnson from 1966 to 1968 and was Jimmy Carter’s National Security Advisor from 1977 to 1981. His scholarship belonged to the realist school, shaped by the geopolitical thinking of Halford Mackinder and Nicholas J. Spykman, though his outlook also showed elements of liberal idealism. He was the main organizer of the Trilateral Commission.