{"id":49414,"date":"2019-07-27T10:00:27","date_gmt":"2019-07-27T00:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=49414"},"modified":"2019-07-27T09:49:17","modified_gmt":"2019-07-26T23:49:17","slug":"making-the-world-a-better-place-the-life-of-richard-holbrooke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/making-the-world-a-better-place-the-life-of-richard-holbrooke\/","title":{"rendered":"Making the world a better place: the life of Richard Holbrooke"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

Our man<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>the American journalist George Packer\u2019s new 600-page biography of Richard Holbrooke, is a masterful book, not just for what it says about the late US diplomat himself, but also for how it portrays the evolution of US diplomacy more broadly.<\/p>\n

Of Holbrooke, Packer tells us that he \u2018devoted three years of his life to a small war in an obscure place with no consequences in the long run beyond itself\u2019. Here, I must confess some bias. While working to bring an end to that dreadful war in Bosnia (Packer\u2019s \u2018obscure place\u2019) in the 1990s, I came to know Holbrooke fairly well. And, after that, we bumped into each other periodically, particularly in the context of the war in Afghanistan, which has lingered on nearly a decade after Holbrooke\u2019s passing.<\/p>\n

Holbrooke\u2019s life in public service began in the rice fields of Vietnam\u2019s Mekong Delta in the early 1960s, when the United States got itself into a war it obviously didn\u2019t understand. As a young, extremely ambitious foreign service officer working in rural development, Holbrooke could see that the realities on the ground were far messier than decision-makers in Washington were willing to acknowledge.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, Holbrooke\u2019s instincts were correct. The seasoned hands in Washington pursued further escalation, believing that indiscriminate bombing and a rising enemy death toll would do the trick. Little effort was made to establish a credible state that could sustain itself after the war had ended. And, soon enough, younger generations of Americans had taken to the streets to protest what looked like a pointless war. US President Richard Nixon and his national security adviser, Henry Kissinger, would go on to abandon the disastrous affair after a \u2018decent interval\u2019, allowing them to focus on the great game of managing China and the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n

The lesson<\/a> of the Vietnam War stuck, at least for a time. Though President Ronald Reagan ordered the invasion of Grenada in 1983, there was no need for an extended occupation of that country. And following the bombing of US Marine barracks in Beirut, Reagan was quick to retreat from Lebanon. The consensus was that there should be no more quagmires. America should keep its feet dry and focus on great-power issues.<\/p>\n

But after the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the world seemed to become more complicated. The international community couldn\u2019t ignore the chaos in Somalia and the genocide in Rwanda. And then there was Bosnia, with its \u2018ancient quarrels\u2019. Everyone hoped that the problem would just go away; but, of course, it didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

In the event, the US had to abandon its policy of detached neglect and willful ignorance. The conflict in Bosnia demanded real diplomacy. It wasn\u2019t resolved with bombs, but by diplomats who had ascended from the muck of the Mekong Delta to \u2018the treetops\u2019 in Washington. Holbrooke, along with President Bill Clinton\u2019s national security adviser, Anthony Lake, saw that difficult and painful compromises would be necessary. Diplomacy eventually led to peace; and Clinton, who was sometimes otherwise engaged, presumably welcomed the positive contribution to his presidential legacy.<\/p>\n

To Packer, Holbrooke\u2019s story is also a story about \u2018the end of the American century\u2019. As a historical matter, this feature of the book\u2019s narrative is vastly exaggerated. But Holbrooke\u2019s life and career undoubtedly did coincide with a period in which America\u2019s ambitions occasionally exceeded its abilities. Still, even in areas where the US fell short of its goals, matters might have been much worse had it made no effort at all.<\/p>\n

One can debate endlessly whether the US is any good at the things Holbrooke wanted it to be good at, such as counterinsurgency wars. Packer concludes that it is not, \u2018because we don\u2019t have the knowledge and patience\u2019. Too few Americans, he argues, are willing to \u2018spend the years out there necessary to understand the nature of the conflict\u2019. The US prefers that its wars be \u2018quick and decisive\u2019, because \u2018we like firepower more than we want to admit\u2019.<\/p>\n

Until he collapsed at his post in 2010, Holbrooke tried to apply everything he had learned during his career to the conflict in Afghanistan. But, again, he ran into the same Washington roadblocks that had been there since Vietnam. \u2018We Americans\u2019, Packer writes, \u2018have never been good at managing the internal business of other countries. We\u2019re lousy imperialists. We are too chaotic and distracted\u2014too democratic. We don\u2019t have the knowledge, the staying power, the public support, the class of elites with the desire and ability to run an empire.\u2019<\/p>\n

And so, as Our man<\/em> illustrates, America just stumbles on. The war in Afghanistan continues, though the Trump administration seems to be waiting for a \u2018decent interval\u2019 before abandoning the conflict.<\/p>\n

And Bosnia is still a troubled place. The politicians representing its three nationalities are constantly quarreling and trying to undercut one another. Many of its young people want to leave, to seek a better future in Germany or elsewhere. Still, while Bosnia hasn\u2019t become another Switzerland, it has peace. Over the past quarter-century, fewer people have been killed by inter-ethnic violence there than in the suburbs of Paris.<\/p>\n

For that, we owe a great deal to American diplomacy, and particularly to Richard Holbrooke. The world is a better place as a result of his service, and Packer has now given us a worthy monument to his career and the historical epoch in which he pursued it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our man, the American journalist George Packer\u2019s new 600-page biography of Richard Holbrooke, is a masterful book, not just for what it says about the late US diplomat himself, but also for how it portrays …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":527,"featured_media":49416,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[43,160,294,2541,543],"class_list":["post-49414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-afghanistan","tag-bosnia","tag-diplomacy","tag-richard-holbrooke","tag-vietnam-war"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMaking the world a better place: the life of Richard Holbrooke | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/making-the-world-a-better-place-the-life-of-richard-holbrooke\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Making the world a better place: the life of Richard Holbrooke | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our man, the American journalist George Packer\u2019s new 600-page biography of Richard Holbrooke, is a masterful book, not just for what it says about the late US diplomat himself, but also for how it portrays ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/making-the-world-a-better-place-the-life-of-richard-holbrooke\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-27T00:00:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-07-26T23:49:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Holbrooke-2-e1564127273271.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"592\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carl Bildt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carl Bildt\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/making-the-world-a-better-place-the-life-of-richard-holbrooke\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Holbrooke-2-e1564127273271.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Holbrooke-2-e1564127273271.jpg\",\"width\":900,\"height\":592},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/making-the-world-a-better-place-the-life-of-richard-holbrooke\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/making-the-world-a-better-place-the-life-of-richard-holbrooke\/\",\"name\":\"Making the world a better place: the life of Richard Holbrooke | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/making-the-world-a-better-place-the-life-of-richard-holbrooke\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-27T00:00:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-07-26T23:49:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/8e6a3214e076ea44466faf875d1bc2b2\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/making-the-world-a-better-place-the-life-of-richard-holbrooke\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/making-the-world-a-better-place-the-life-of-richard-holbrooke\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/making-the-world-a-better-place-the-life-of-richard-holbrooke\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Making the world a better place: the life of Richard Holbrooke\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/8e6a3214e076ea44466faf875d1bc2b2\",\"name\":\"Carl Bildt\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2371f5efd9976a553bc6f1a4b16435ec?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2371f5efd9976a553bc6f1a4b16435ec?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Carl Bildt\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/carl-bildt\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Making the world a better place: the life of Richard Holbrooke | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/making-the-world-a-better-place-the-life-of-richard-holbrooke\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Making the world a better place: the life of Richard Holbrooke | The Strategist","og_description":"Our man, the American journalist George Packer\u2019s new 600-page biography of Richard Holbrooke, is a masterful book, not just for what it says about the late US diplomat himself, but also for how it portrays ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/making-the-world-a-better-place-the-life-of-richard-holbrooke\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2019-07-27T00:00:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-07-26T23:49:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":900,"height":592,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Holbrooke-2-e1564127273271.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Carl Bildt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Carl Bildt","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/making-the-world-a-better-place-the-life-of-richard-holbrooke\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Holbrooke-2-e1564127273271.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Holbrooke-2-e1564127273271.jpg","width":900,"height":592},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/making-the-world-a-better-place-the-life-of-richard-holbrooke\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/making-the-world-a-better-place-the-life-of-richard-holbrooke\/","name":"Making the world a better place: the life of Richard Holbrooke | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/making-the-world-a-better-place-the-life-of-richard-holbrooke\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2019-07-27T00:00:27+00:00","dateModified":"2019-07-26T23:49:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/8e6a3214e076ea44466faf875d1bc2b2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/making-the-world-a-better-place-the-life-of-richard-holbrooke\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/making-the-world-a-better-place-the-life-of-richard-holbrooke\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/making-the-world-a-better-place-the-life-of-richard-holbrooke\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Making the world a better place: the life of Richard Holbrooke"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/8e6a3214e076ea44466faf875d1bc2b2","name":"Carl Bildt","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2371f5efd9976a553bc6f1a4b16435ec?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2371f5efd9976a553bc6f1a4b16435ec?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Carl Bildt"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/carl-bildt\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49414"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/527"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49414"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49419,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49414\/revisions\/49419"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}