March 29, 2024

The Unquiet American: Richard Holbrooke

Richard Holbrooke, who died in December 2010, was a pivotal player in U.S. diplomacy for more than 40 years. Most recently as the special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan under President Obama, Holbrooke also served as assistant secretary of state for both Asia and Europe, and as ambassador to both Germany and the United Nations. He had a key role in brokering a peace agreement among warring factions in Bosnia that led to the Dayton Peace Accords in 1995.

The Unquiet American: Richard Holbrooke in the World [PublicAffairs Books, Nov. 2011] is a collection of writing by the friends and colleagues who knew him best as well as excerpts from Holbrooke’s own trenchant writing. This book is both a tribute to an exceptional public servant and a backstage history of the last half-century of American foreign policy. Please join Kati Marton and contributors to The Unquiet American for a thoughtful discussion on Holbrooke’s life, legacy and directions in U.S. foreign policy in today’s world.

Contributors include OPC member Roger Cohen who writes about Holbrooke’s vision for America in Europe; David Rohde on Holbrooke’s role in Afghanistan and Pakistan; Strobe Talbott on Holbrooke’s impact on the course of American foreign policy during the apex of American power. Other writers include Richard Bernstein on Holbrooke’s role as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia during the Carter years; James Traub writes on Holbrooke’s tenure at the United Nations.

The event will take place at the Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue (at 70th Street) at 6:30 p.m. followed by a book sale and reception. OPC members pay $10 which is the rate for Asia Society members. Please RSVP by calling the Asia Society box office 212-517-2742. Alternatively you can log-on to their website www.asiasociety.org and set up an online account. To access the OPC-promotion code, e-mail your request to the OPC.