Peace Journey Book

The literature of international mediation is high on theory and low on practical details. Carl Bildt's account of his role as chief European Union negotiator in Bosnia from 1995 onwards is high minded enough, but its real strength is its dogged, detailed account of the slow process of peace making; a process of which the book is itself in a sense still a part. This is not, accordingly, a book full of sensational revelations as to the character of Slobodan Milosevic or any of the other main players--Bildt is anxious to put as good a face on things as can be put and the only people he hounds here as war criminals are those whom the negotiations decided on. What he does give us is a sense of the untrustworthiness of almost everybody involved and some sense of the motivations behind that untrustworthiness, fears based on centuries of not always unjustified mistrust. He demonstrates considerable regard for the British troops on the ground, dedicated professionals with a hard job, and little for anyone else. And a peace of sorts was cobbled together, and Bildt tactfully reminds us that even an unjust and dishonest and temporary peace is better than a genocidal war. --Roz KaveneyRead More