Forging Peace September–December 1995

The final months of the search for peace in Bosnia and Croatia left everyone scrambling to reach the next stage of diplomatic and military engagement. Richard Holbrooke reported no progress. The Principals approved continued NATO air strikes against Bosnian Serb targets. Planning proceeded for the NATO-led force that would be inserted into Bosnia following a peace agreement. The Deputies bickered over plans for the Bosniaks. The Principals and Deputies strategized how to roll out peace talks, and consultations in Europe prepared the groundwork for the upcoming Dayton peace talks. Kofi Annan consulted in Washington about the U.N. role. Madeleine Albright and Holbrooke clashed over sanctions relief for Serbia. Holbrooke’s memorandum to Warren Christopher illuminated the turbulence in the Dayton talks near their conclusion. Holbrooke concluded that Slobodan Milošević had carried the day in Dayton and that Alija Izetbegović had been the most unreasonable, and, concludes the author, for understandable reasons.