Glucksmann began his career as a Marxist, who went on to reject Marxism–Leninism and real socialism in the popular book La Cuisinière et le Mangeur d'Hommes (1975), and later became an anti-Communist and outspoken critic of the Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russian foreign policy.

[2] The family "narrowly escaped deportation to the camps" during the Holocaust, which influenced Glucksmann's developing ideas of "the state as the ultimate source of barbarism".

[3] In his next book, Les maitres penseurs, published in 1977 and translated into English as Master Thinkers (Harper & Row, 1980), he traced the intellectual justification for totalitarianism back to the ideas articulated by various German philosophers, such as Fichte, Hegel, Marx, and Nietzsche.

[4] In the years of the Vietnam War, Glucksmann rose to national prominence after expressing his support for Vietnamese boat people.

[5] In 1985, Glucksmann signed a petition to then United States president Ronald Reagan urging him to continue his support for the Contras in Nicaragua.

"[9] His 2006 book Une rage d'enfant is an autobiography which talks about how his experiences as a young Jew in occupied France led to his interest in philosophy and his belief in the importance of intervention.

[11][12] He was against the Abkhazian and South Ossetian independence from Georgia, arguing that Georgia is essential to maintaining European Union "energy independence", vis-a-vis Russia, through access to oil and gas reserves in the former Soviet republics, stating: "If Tbilisi falls, there will be no way to get around Gazprom and guarantee autonomous access to the gas and petroleum wealth of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan.

"[11] As evidence of Russia's plans to use energy blackmail, Glucksmann referenced a biting anti-Gazprom satirical song performed at the annual satirical award show "Silver Rubber Boot", which made jokes like: "If the Eurovision Song Contest denies victory to Russia again, we are going to drive to their concert and block their gas with our bodies!

[15] In August 2008, he co-signed an open letter with Václav Havel, Desmond Tutu, and Wei Jingsheng calling upon the Chinese authorities to respect human rights both during and after the 2008 Summer Olympics.