[Ben Ficklin]

A lot of people thing Zbig won the cold war.

He and Carter funded the political opposition in Afghanistan, which led to the Soviet invasion, which was the precipitating event in the collapse of the Soviets.

So when they talk about the "Wise Old Realists", they are talking about Henry Kissinger, Brent Scowcroft, and Zbig.

Zbig is still very influential because of his association with CSIS and Rand.

[Netz]

...that's one way of looking at it. Zbig is bright, talented and was considered one of the most able Soviet analysts around but...he advised Carter and he advised the young & inexperienced Obama. Funny, Obama is still acting like he has no experience at all.