A riveting and forthright insider account of the Dayton accords and
their aftermath, by their primary architect. For Holbrooke, a
proponent of the use of force to end the Bosnian crisis, the
assignment as assistant secretary of state during Clinton's first
administration (1994-96) offered an opportunity to implement
changes he had long advocated. The core of Holbrooke's report, and
by far the most vibrant and disarming, is his candid account of the
Dayton accords that ended the war. "The negotiations," he writes,
"were simultaneously cerebral and physical, abstract and personal .
. . something like a combination of chess and mountain climbing."
To End a War captures this mood precisely; Holbrooke offers
gripping tales of marathon 24-hour sessions, scenes of the Balkan
leaders screaming at one another and at the Americans, and offers
unforgettable portraits of Milosevic, Izetbegovic, and Tudjman. The
place seethes with frustration. When Anthony Lake comments that
this is "the craziest zoo I've ever seen," Holbrooke feels
satisfied that he has "understood the special weirdness of Dayton."
The consummate diplomat and team member, Holbrooke tells not only
of his own fiercely dedicated work but graciously praises and
documents the efforts of negotiators, diplomats, politicians, and
humanitarian workers who continue to take part in making and
implementing policy. While not exactly literary, Holbrooke's memoir
is both highly literate and informed, as well as notably readable.
Quotations appear from W.H. Auden, Kierkegaard, and Melville, among
others. It's also steeped in the tradition of diplomatic memoirs by
eminent diplomat/authors such as Henry Kissinger and Harold
Nicolson. While limiting his discussion to the Balkans and the
Dayton accords, Holbrooke always has an eye to the broader picture,
drawing frequent historical comparisons. A diplomatic memoir of
uncommon honesty and insight and a sobering tale for those who
dismiss the Dayton accords as an unjust peace. (Kirkus Reviews)
When President Clinton sent Richard Holbrooke to Bosnia as America's chief negotiator in late 1995, he took a gamble that would eventually redefine his presidency. But there was no saying then, at the height of the war, that Holbrooke's mission would succeed. The odds were strongly against it.
As passionate as he was controversial, Holbrooke believed that the only way to bring peace to the Balkans was through a complex blend of American leadership, aggressive and creative diplomacy, and a willingness to use force, if necessary, in the cause for peace. This was not a universally popular view. Resistance was fierce within the United Nations and the chronically divided Contact Group, and in Washington, where many argued that the United States should not get more deeply involved. This book is Holbrooke's gripping inside account of his mission, of the decisive months when, belatedly and reluctantly but ultimately decisively, the United States reasserted its moral authority and leadership and ended Europe's worst war in over half a century. To End a War reveals many important new details of how America made this historic decision.
What George F. Kennan has called Holbrooke's "heroic efforts" were shaped by the enormous tragedy with which the mission began, when three of his four team members were killed during their first attempt to reach Sarajevo. In Belgrade, Sarajevo, Zagreb, Paris, Athens, and Ankara, and throughout the dramatic roller-coaster ride at Dayton, he tirelessly imposed, cajoled, and threatened in the quest to stop the killing and forge a peace agreement. Holbrooke's portraits of the key actors, from officials in the White House and the Élysée Palace to the leaders in the Balkans, are sharp and unforgiving. His explanation of how the United States was finally forced to intervene breaks important new ground, as does his discussion of the near disaster in the early period of the implementation of the Dayton agreement.
To End a War is a brilliant portrayal of high-wire, high-stakes diplomacy in one of the toughest negotiations of modern times. A classic account of the uses and misuses of American power, its lessons go far beyond the boundaries of the Balkans and provide a powerful argument for continued American leadership in the modern world.
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