To End a War (Modern Library (Paperback))

Rating:
Summary: "Reads like a thriller" wrote one student...
Review: "Reads like a thriller" wrote one student on his course evaluation. This account by Clinton's principal negotiator to end the conflict in the Balkans takes the reader from the landmined mountain roads of Bosnia to the late-night arm-twisting of Milosevic and others at Wright-Patterson AFB. I have used the book in different courses to provide an understanding of the substance of the Balkan conflicts, the role of leadership, and an on-the-ground exposition of diplomacy. Students tend to have two kinds of reactions. First, it reveals (through an admittedly single, American perspective) the issues at stake in the Balkans. But it also offers a more general model for the unseen stakes and battles in diplomacy itself: the variety of interests, the relative (in)flexibility of position on different issues, examples of "spin" to the press, and displays of persistence, skill and the occasional human error (uh, we forgot to consult Croatia!).

Although the roads are better in New York, the book helps one begin to imagine some of the behind-the-scenes battles in the 2002-2003 UN negotiations on military action in Iraq.

Rating:
Summary: "To End a War" is a book that is well worth reading.
Review: In his book , "To End a War" Richard Holbrooke does an adequate job of giving insight as to the negotiations on the war in Bosnia. It helps to see the view of one who has spoken with and haggled with all major parties who settled the Bosnian "peace plan". Mr Holbrooke posessess a gret amount of confidence in his ideas and somerimes it is to the point of where he gives the impression of being pompus. An underlying theme that of course never fully brought to light by Mr. Holbrooke is the idea that the Americans are omnicent, a senior cabinet member or even the President spoke to the three parties, why to hear him tell it their mere prescence would solve all problems. However Mr. Holbrooke should have known and he was soon reminded that though the muslims, serbs and croats might be impressed with the prescence of Bill Clinton or one of his cabinent members that does not neccesarily mean that they are willing to comply. To think that some senior U.S. official can change the nature of ideas in the Balkans is ignorant conciet that can be classified as underestimating the opponent. However Holbrooke does do a good job of telling everything in his book, of being honest, some of the facts in the book where not very flattering no matter how god of a spin that he put on it. It almost seems from reading "To End a War" that peace will reign in Bosnia because Richard Holbrooke and the Americans - as well as their allies - will it and they will have it even if it requires being forceful and undiplomatic. To take issue with one final point in the book I must comment on Mr. Holbrooke anger at the Bosnian Serbs unwillingness to sign the Dayton Peace Accords. He said himself that he told Slobodan Milosevic that he would not negtiate at Dayton with the Bosnian Serbs at Dayton, they must accept the affer that was accepted by Milosevic, then he had the gall to wonder why Dayton was almost ruined by the peturbed Bosnian Serbs. Eventually they were coerced by Milosevic to accept the peace deal but Mr Holbrooke need not question why peace is so difficult to achieve in the Balkans. Mr. Holbrooke lets the reader gain the impression that he and Milosevic are good friends and he can work a deal with "Slobo" at just about any time but as people who keep up with current events know Milosevic can convince people left and right that he is making a deal with them but he can always work his way out of it. Aside from my personal thought as to th econtent of the book I do believe that the book is well written in the fact that it alows the reader to see the possible weaknessess of the negotiation process whether it is the authors intent or not. I guess the way in which Mr. Holbrooke tells about both the good and the bad of the negotiation process so that the reader can decide for themselves if Dayton had a positive outcame is what makes the book worth reading, as well as the background infrmation.

Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: It is true whoever said it that this book reads like any interesting thriller. I knew Holbrooke was an excellent negotiator and a restless soul when it came on bringing peace to Balkans but I just didn't know how much until I've read this book.
Holbrooke is such an excellent writer too and its a shame that he isn't a regular one - he'd hit the bestsellers list for every book he would write because this book was meant to be a memoir of a diplomat and you all know how confused they really are but all along I felt Holbrooke wrote a book about me and as if I was reading about myself. That is all because he wrote with such enormous honesty and without reservations of any kind and each moment he describes in this book is so vivid. You would feel just like you have been Holbrooke himself. Anyways,it is a book that I would highly recommend to everyone, not just those who are interested in Bosnia's past because this book truly is a box full of morale stories and unlimited life strategies written by a triumphous person who worked so hard to bring peace and secure a good name to United States of America first than the rest of civilised world.
What I found most interesting in this book was the moments when Holbrooke met with the greatest deceiver on Earth, Milosevic and his supporters. Most of his dialogues with them are described so vividly and after all it all seemed as if these dialogues were nothing but a chess game in which Justice through Holbrooke as U.S. proud representative - WINS with honour as INJUSTICE loses with eternal disgrace.

Rating:
Summary: Try "To Twist an Arm", Dick...
Review: Richard Holbrooke was the chief US negotiator in the Dayton Accords and the shuttle diplomacy that preceded that famous peace conference. It may be better said that he was the master of ceremonies for a highly dramatic and unintentionally highly amusing circus of uncompromising personalities that represented the belligerent forces of the Balkans - leaving a legacy of innumerable deaths and atrocities.

This is Holbrooke's first hand account. From the escalation of the war to implementation of peace keeping forces Holbrooke (and his team) was involved either behind the scenes or in the international spotlight to bring the crisis in the Balkans to a halt. He relates all of these experiences and frustrations with a firm mastery of storytelling. This is a highly engaging work. Even though you may know the history I am sure you'll find yourself rooting on the American negotiating team or sighing at the frustrations that the participants in the peace process faced. Filled with humor and suspense Holbrooke has created a diplomatic memoir that I am sure will be utilized by future diplomats for a reference to manage peace negotiations in the conflicts and years ahead.

Rating:
Summary: fascinating look at international diplomacy
Review: The added value of "To end a war" is its very detailed description of the Dayton negotiations from one of the main players. However, the book takes a very biased view of the causes of the conflict in the Balkans, what perpetuated them and what brought them to an end. Holbroke presents the simplistic view that he, together with US military force, ended the war.

He mentions nothing of previous peace initiatives. Holbroke does not acknowledge the US role in the Croatian government reconquest and subsequent ethnic cleansing of the Krajina region (populated by ethnic Serbs) in Croatia, one of the main factors in the chain of events leading to the Dayton negotiations.

Rating:
Summary: A strong AMERICAN Diplomat
Review: The right wing hysterics have spent so much time trashing Clinton and his Presidency that they overlook a salient point. Rarely has the United States been more respected overseas than during his Presidency. It wasn't perfect, but compared to the current group of clowns and a Secretary of State who is in internal exile, well ...

Holbrook has a big fat ego. Despite that, or maybe because of it, he actually accomplished one hell of a lot. He capped his career at the United Nations where he was better liked, more respected and more feared than Madelaine Albright. He would have made a great Secretary of State.

Colin Powell -- who has a different style and approach -- may in any event have the elements of another kind of great Secretary of State. But we'll never know. Because he works for a President who does not have a foreign policy and in an administration where obscure ideologues invent whacky theories.

When you see the one star ratings, don't worry. It's just the ghost of Jesse Helms who was offended because the UN had black employees.

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Summary: Arrogant, brash and biased- Holbrooke's loathsome legacy
Review: Today's Bosnia-Herzegovina is not so much a functioning country as a living testimony to the modern America policy of nation-building, and the man who brought it about in the Balkans, one Richard Holbrooke. Forthright to the point of unbearable arrogance, Holbrooke was heavily involved in the final phase of the Bosnian War (1992-95) and the escalation of the Kosovo crisis in 1998. While he has not offered an account of the latter, his Bosnian experiences are detailed in a 1998 memoir, To End a War. It is a somewhat self-serving, pompous, ignorant, crass and in places painfully trite book, without a trace of modesty - false or otherwise - which nonetheless captures Holbrooke's perspective perfectly and offers invaluable insights into America's role in modern Balkans affairs.

...Holbrooke's sympathies are apparent from the very beginning. In 1992, he contacted the Bosnian Muslim envoy to the UN, Muhamed Sacirbey, "introduced myself as an admirer of his cause, and offered my support." (Chapter 3, p. 34) Writing to candidate Clinton that same year, he recommended him to "follow a more vigorous policy against Serb aggression" (Chapter 3, p.42) He cites with admiration Alija Izetbegovic's statement from February 7, 1991: "I would sacrifice peace for a sovereign Bosnia-Herzegovina... but for that peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina I would not sacrifice sovereignty." (Chapter 2, p. 32)

At one point, when a British colleague warns him that ignoring Serb grievances was not wise, Holbrooke replied that, "The Serb view of history was their problem... ours was to end a war." (Chapter 7, p. 110) His opinion of the Serbs is spelled out later:

"The Western mistake over the previous four years had been to treat the Serbs as rational people with whom one could argue, negotiate, compromise and agree. In fact, they respected only force or an unambiguous and credible threat to use it." (Chapter 10, p. 152)

"Bombs for Peace"

With that in mind, and wanting to end the war, Holbrooke set out to orchestrate a NATO bombing of Serb positions, and encourage a Muslim and Croat offensive. In the spring of 1995, Croatian forces had violated the UN mandate in Western Slavonia and seized a pocket of Serb territory there within three days. During one meeting with Croatian officials in the spring of 1995, Robert Frasure - a senior US diplomat who soon thereafter died on the road to Sarajevo - handed Holbrooke a note:

"Dick: We 'hired' these guys to be our junkyard dogs because we were desperate. We need to try to 'control' them. But it is no time to get squeamish about things. (Chapter 6, p. 73)

Soon afterwards, Croats struck again in south-western Bosnia, and in August, launched an all-out assault on Serb-held Krajina. Hundreds of Serbs were killed, hundreds of thousands expelled in the largest episode of "ethnic cleansing" in the war.

After an explosion at a Sarajevo marketplace in August that killed a dozen civilians, Izetbegovic's government demanded NATO air strikes. Holbrooke pushed to oblige him; one of the reasons the bombing started, he claims, was "the strong recommendation of our negotiating team that bombing should take place regardless of the effect o the negotiations." (Chapter 7, p.103)

Bosnian Serbs and Belgrade offered immediate concessions to stop the bombing and end the war. Holbrooke refused to even consider the proposals, insisting on a platform he had previously negotiated with Izetbegovic (Chapter 9, p.134). In talks with Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic, Holbrooke "readily agreed [with Milosevic's accusation] - in fact, with a certain pleasure - that the bombing...had the effect of helping the Muslims and Croats." (Chapter 10, p. 147-8)

At one point in early September, however, NATO had run out of pre-selected targets, and the bombing was paused to Holbrooke's great displeasure. He made impassioned phone calls and pleas to his superiors and NATO, calling for the resumption of the bombing. "It helped that Izetbegovic saw I was fighting hard for something he desperately wanted..." (Chapter 8, p. 131)

In the end, Holbrooke's determined calls to "Give us bombs for peace." (Chapter 8, p. 132), were heeded, and a strategy was born.

Read the complete version of this review- and many more- at Balkanalysis.com