Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter's NSC chief, dies at 89

He served throughout the Carter administration.

His name wasn't the easiest to say or or spell but Zbigniew Brzezinski was called on - and often - by Democratic administrations for his counsel.

Kissinger, Mr. Brzezinski was a foreign-born scholar (he in Poland, Mr. Kissinger in Germany) with considerable influence in global affairs, both before and long after his official tour of duty in the White House. You always knew where Zbig stood, and his ideas and advocacy helped shape decades of American national security policy. Also surviving Brzezinski were his wife, Emilie, and their sons Ian and Mark.

Earnest and ambitious, Mr Brzezinski helped Mr Carter bridge wide gaps between the rigid Egyptian and Israeli leaders, Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin, leading to the Camp David accords in September 1978. He was one of the few foreign policy experts to warn against the invasion of Iraq in 2003. "I love you Dad #HailToTheChief", she wrote. He advocated a commando mission to rescue the hostages that ended in failure.

Former President Carter said in a statement Friday night, "Rosalynn and I are saddened by the death of Zbigniew Brzezinski. I will miss him", Carter said.

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Brzezinski was Obamas mentor and foreign policy guru since Obamas student days at Columbia. Brzezinski belongs to the realist school of worldwide relations, standing in the geopolitical tradition of Halford Mackinder and Nicholas J. Spykman. He then served as a counselor to Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency. "We're dealing with some truly fundamentalist haters of the West".

"We gave it a strategic significance which I think contributed to greater worldwide stability", he then said.