A few years ago, I read George Packer’s “The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America.” It was a haunting portrayal of the slow unraveling of the United States through the life stories of many individuals. Like so many others, I found the book to be fascinating. So, it was with great interest that I saw Packer had published a new book, this time focused on the late diplomat Richard Holbrooke. I recalled the name Holbrooke, but couldn’t say I knew a lot about him. Given how much I had enjoyed “The Unwinding,” I thought this book too would surely be worth a read.
“Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century” was an utterly engrossing portrait of not only the man, but also the decline of American power from Vietnam to Afghanistan. Through the person of Richard Holbrooke, we witness the follies and unforced errors that have haunted our foreign policy for the last forty years. We also witness the occasional triumphs – most notably Holbrooke’s masterful work in securing the Dayton Accords, which halted fighting in the Balkans in 1995.
Holbrooke was a larger than life figure by all accounts. This was ultimately his source of strength as well as his weakness. Only someone like Holbrooke, with his tangle of talent and ambition, could have compelled someone like Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic to sign the Dayton Accords. Yet his naked ambition ultimately kept him from realizing his lifelong goal of becoming Secretary of State.
The same sharp elbows that worked in some situations backfired spectacularly in others. In Packer’s telling, Holbrooke is a tragic figure. Some of America’s tragedies could have been mitigated by paying attention to what he had to say. Often correct in his assessments, Holbrooke was successively ignored by other government officials who thought they knew better. They usually didn’t.
Overworking himself at the cost of his health, Holbrooke desperately hoped the lessons learned from Vietnam would help avoid a similar outcome in Afghanistan. They did not. Others involved in the work dismissed the relevance of Vietnam to the current situation and resented Holbrooke for constantly bringing it up. Daring to point out that Afghan President Hamid Karzai had clearly been re-elected through massive voter fraud didn’t help his position either. Yet even at the end, being wheeled into emergency surgery, Holbrooke continued to give directions. He was the star in this play and would go out like one. George Packer’s description of Holbrooke’s final hours brought me to tears as only a handful of other books have.
“Holbrooke? Yes, I knew him,” Packer writes at the beginning of the book. “I can’t get his voice out of my head.” Now, thanks to Packer’s book, neither can I.
Reviewer Brady Clemens is the district consultant librarian at Schlow Centre Region Library.
George Packer will be visiting State College on Monday, November 4th for a spotlight event at the Days Inn from 7:00 to 8:30 PM. Those interested in attending can sign up on Schlow Library's website.
