Remembrances
Richard Holbrooke has gone. We remember him, larger than life,
filling the room with his presence. He came to the Woman's National Democratic Club
many times. I personally remember meeting him at a lot of AfPak events as well.
He was very aware of our, WNDC's, recent brush with extinction - at least that's how
he saw it. He insisted that our future was inextricably tied with the Whittemore House.
I also saw him with his lovely wife Katie Marton, the writer he obviously adored. She,
too, was our guest at the WNDC, introducing her book "Enemies of the People".
The world will remember him as the consummate diplomat who helped bring peace to the
Balkans - the chief architect of the Dayton accords. He will also be remembered for
his recent robust role in Afghanistan and Pakistan, a central member of the team seeking
to steer the US on a course of gradually reduced involvement in Afghanistan and transfer
of responsibility towards the Afghan military forces.
His forceful presence and tough negotiating style earned him the nicknames "the Bulldozer"
and "Raging Bull", and the distinction of being "Washington's favourite last-ditch diplomat".
The Obama Administration just lost a towering diplomat and strategist. We feel we've lost a friend.
by Nuchhi Currier
I never worked directly with Ambassador Holbrooke when I was in the Foreign Service. However,
I was in the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the time of the
Dayton Accords, so brilliantly negotiated by Holbrooke to bring an end to the war in Bosnia in
1995. An officer working for me was seconded to Holbrooke's team; I followed the negotiations
closely. Having just returned from an assignment in our Embassy in Norway I was keenly aware
of how badly Europe had fumbled the ball in Bosnia and filled with admiration and pride that
the US and Holbrooke took over the action and not only stopped the war in Bosnia but created
the institutions that would keep the peace. Holbrooke broke through not because he was a great
soldier but because he was a great diplomat, brilliant, creative, determined and forceful, with
a deep understanding of human strengths and weaknesses. In celebrating Holbrooke's life, I will
most remember that he was a peace maker, and will look to celebrate those who walk in his
footsteps.
by Elizabeth Spiro Clark
