The Quiet American

During a trip to Pakistan last year with Zbigniew Brzezinski, Warren M. Christopher sat quietly by while the flamboyant National Security Adviser seemed intent on humiliating him. Brzezinski stuck so close to Pakistani President Mohammed Zia ul-Haq that Christopher did not even have a chance to present the Pakistani ruler with the official U.S. gift. While Brzezinski clowned and traded quips with the press, Christopher, whose boss, Cyrus Vance, was Brzezinski's bitterest bureaucratic foe, patiently studied his briefing books. Not once did he betray his annoyance. Staunch discretion and a willingness to let...

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