A great man from an era when America was winning.
Decisions were made at the time in Asia that brought Egypt and China into the US camp for good, while causing the Soviets a headache in Afghanistan. These were the linchpins that won the US the Cold War. American ideals were also spreading in the late 70s. You had liberalizations in places like Spain, Portugal, and Greece, which would spread around the world into the 80s and 90s.
Now the opposite is happening. Authoritarianism is spreading, Russia and China are rising, and faith in American ideals and institutions are collapsing. People are even talking about a strongman taking power in Brazil, which hasn't been a dictatorship since 1985. Brzezinski lived to see all he worked for put into jeopardy.
