The Foreign Service Journal, November 2015

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2015 19 by his creativity in finding solutions. FSJ: Your father was critical of the U.S. military’s increasing role in setting U.S. policy in Afghanistan. Was his a wholesale rejection of military solutions, or did he indicate there were situations in which a more prominent military role was appropriate? DH: The film’s big geopolitical theme that runs through all three segments—Vietnam, Bosnia and Afghanistan—is whether American foreign policy should be formed by the diplomats or the generals. While my father had enormous respect for the U.S. military, he did not feel they should be setting political strategy in Afghanistan or, really, anywhere else. In Vietnam, the military took the lead, and that didn’t turn out so well. In Bosnia, Strobe Talbott, Deputy Secretary of State dur- ing the Clinton administration, said the policy was “diplomacy backed by force.” That is one of the key lines in the film and an essential approach. In Afghanistan, my father was intended to be the civilian counterpart to General Petraeus, but it was a very tricky relationship. My father would say that Petraeus had more planes than he had phones, and that was enormously challenging; but more so, he and other diplomats (including Hillary Clinton) simply didn’t have the same access to the president that the generals had. FSJ: What were your father’s biggest frustrations with diplomacy as a practice and process? DH: My father was enormously frus- trated by the lack of creativity and imagi- nation of some of the people he worked with and for. He felt their vision was too small or, worse, too self-serving. While he had sharp elbows and a considerable ego, he also felt that those traits were ultimately in the service of the people he had to help. He loved the Foreign Service and believed in its potential as an enormous force for positive change. He also felt it could be hidebound. For himself, he knew the best way to advance was to actu- ally leave the government and get outside experience to bring back. I have shown the film to a lot of diplomats. It registers with them deeply. Their takeaway is often that they need to do more, take bigger risks and, as one said to me, “Think about what Richard Holbrooke would do.” FSJ: How would you describe your father’s legacy? DH: Of course, the peace that remains in Bosnia is a huge part of his legacy; but it is a tenuous peace, and I hope the film gets Americans to pay attention to the region again, especially since we are at the 20th anniversary of Dayton. His legacy in Kosovo is also huge. When I was there, people came up to me all the time to thank me for his work. And as I left the country, the bor- der guard looked at my passport and asked, “Are you son of Richard Hol- brooke?” I said yes, and he handed my passport back, shook my hand and said, “He’s number one here.” The last credits in the film read: “Dedicated to the next generation of diplomats.” A friend of mine who works in the State Department saw the film at Tribeca and said it was “a love letter to diplomacy.” There is a lot of truth to that. There are countless films about making war, but so few about making peace. After every screening, people gather around me to talk about it. Many are older and have enjoyed this look back at the global history that has paralleled their lives; but there are also always young people bouncing up and down, with a gleam in their eye, who want to tell me how much my father’s story inspired them. That makes it all worth it, as I think he would have wanted that to be his legacy as much as anything. n TOP: David and Richard Holbrooke in a casual moment. Photo Credit: Jodi Cobb/Courtesy of HBO. MIDDLE: Ambassador Holbrooke and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at work. Photo Credit: U.S. Department of State/Courtesy of HBO. BOTTOM: President Bill Clinton talks with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic in Paris on Dec. 14, 1995. Between them are, left to right, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, FSO Christopher Hill and Secretary of State Warren Christopher. Photo Credit: Clinton Presidential Library/ Courtesy of HBO.