What is most important to the history of the world? The Taliban or the collapse of the Soviet empire? Some stirred-up Moslems or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the cold war?
Zbigniew Brzezinski, Le Nouvel Observateur (15-21 January 1998)
When we moved into Afghanistan almost eight years ago—and with a very small force—we were actually welcomed. If we are not careful, we could come to be viewed by the Afghans like the Russians, and that would be a strategic defeat.
Zbigniew Brzezinski, “To become an occupying power is a strategic defeat,” New Perspectives Quarterly (Spring 2009)