In 1995 Richard Holbrooke, a man that I had never heard of before, became one of my personal heroes. Why? Because he had played an instrumental role in achieving what everyone had said was impossible: negotiating the Dayton Peace Accords and bringing an end to the war in Bosnia.
For over 3 years in the early 1990’s, Americans had wrung their hands in disbelief as Serbians, Croatians, and Bosnians waged war in the Balkans. Our experts repeatedly told us that peace was too much to hope for, that “Balkans” was just another word for unending warfare, and that the U.S. shouldn’t get involved in this area. “You may not like it, but you’ll have to get used to it because this is what those people do. It is what they have always done” was the conventional wisdom. Mr. Holbrooke, a career diplomat in the State Department, thought otherwise and the innocent citizens who had been caught up in this bloody and seemingly unending conflict can thank him for the peace they enjoy today.
Mr. Holbrooke died Monday while undergoing emergency surgery to repair a torn aorta. He had been serving as the U.S. government’s special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and he had returned to Washington DC to report on his work when he suddenly became ill. In an age where politicians can get elected by running against “Washington bureaucrats,” we would do well to remember this lifelong servant of the public good. The world is a better place because of Richard Holbrooke.
