Warren Zimmermann was the American ambassador to Yugoslavia from 1989 to 1992, the period when the breakup of the Soviet empire caused the Balkans to slide into war. In this candid insider's account he recounts the failures of American and European diplomacy to prevent a catastrophe that was, according to Zimmerman, not only foreseeable but entirely preventable. The most chilling pages in this book depict Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, who looked the ambassador in the eye, puffed on his Italian cigarillos, and stated that "Serbia has nothing to do with Bosnia." Now, as U.S. troops prepare to pull out of Bosnia by the end of 1996, Zimmermann's memoir paints a bleak future for this war-torn corner of Eastern Europe.

Zimmerman, U.S. ambassador to Yugoslavia from 1989 to 1992, here offers an authoritative diplomatic history and firsthand report of events leading up to the conflagration that destroyed that east European state; literate and engrossing, it jibes pretty much with the record as we know it. Making short shrift of such arguments as that the country was a tragedy waiting to happen and that it was impossible for its diverse ethnic groups to live together, the ambassador lays the blame for the "catastrophe" squarely on the various republican leaders whose selfish interests overrode the goal of maintaining national unity. He leaves no doubt that the architect of the genocidal war that followed upon the breakup of the state was Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic. One of the most intriguing parts of the book is the author's reports of his meetings with Yugoslav politicians who played roles in their nation's demise, including Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and Ante Markovic, the last prime minister of Yugoslavia. From the vantage of hindsight, Zimmerman expresses regret that he didn't recommend the use of force by the U.S. and its allies to stop Serbian aggression as early as 1991. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The author's fine style of writing and his experience as the last American ambassador to former Yugoslavia ensure the book's eminence in a crowded field. Indeed, the ambassador's last cable to the State Department, "Who killed Yugoslavia," is fully reported and singles out the "Serbian imperialist" Slobodan Milosevic for particular responsibility. Along with the "criminal" leaders of Serbia and Croatia, Zimmermann relates his conversation with generals of the army, partisans of human rights and, poignantly, with Bosnia's President Izetbegovic and Yugoslavia's last prime minister, Ante Markovic. The role of the crudely manipulated media inflaming mass hatred especially attracts the author's attention. Though one may miss sharper criticism of American policy, it is difficult to fault the book's conclusion that Yugoslavia's death was self-inflicted. This intelligent book belongs in any serious collection that would explain the Yugoslav tragedy. Highly recommended.?Zachary T. Irwin, Pennsylvania State Univ.-Erie
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

No popularly willed disaster, the wars that destroyed Yugoslavia were primarily instigated by two opportunistic, power-hungry men who are still in office: Tudjman of Croatia and Milosevic of Serbia. As the last American ambassador to the disintegrating Yugoslavia, Zimmermann can reach that fundamental conclusion thanks to both his fondness for the South Slavic, including the Muslim, peoples and his face-to-face meetings with their intransigent politicians. As a genre, ambassadors' memoirs tend to suffocate in boring, self-justifying bureaucratic idiom. But Zimmermann accepts blame for not raising warnings more strenuously at several critical junctures and offers lively portraits of his interlocutors and their often scarcely believable explanations for their actions. Branding the agile and amoral Milosevic the "most artful chameleon in the Balkans" or spoofing Tudjman's fascistic sartorial tastes is the kind of popular handle with which Zimmermann raises his thesis that madmen bewitched by ethnic supremacy ignited the Yugoslav wars. A well-written, edifying insider's narrative of an unedifying diplomatic failure. Gilbert Taylor

Another coroner's report on the death of Yugoslavia, this time by an observer with a literary bent, the US's last ambassador to that vanished nation. Zimmermann was posted to Belgrade in 1989, and his account begins with this period of tangible decline and ends with the final breakdown of talks among the republics and the eruption of violence in Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Zimmermann unambiguously places principal blame for the demise of Yugoslavia on Serbia's Slobodan Milosevi, whom he judges ``an opportunist rather than an ideologue,'' a Jekyll-and-Hyde type dominated by his darker side. He views Croatia's leader, Franjo Tudjman, as a nationalist whose ``devotion to Croatia was of the most narrow- minded sort.'' And while myriad domestic and international players had a hand in Yugoslavia's demise, it was these two individuals, he argues, who are most responsible for the country's dissolution. Zimmermann drives home several significant points that are too often overlooked: Countering those who attribute the crisis to ``ancient Balkan hostilities,'' he stresses the crucial influences of a modern agent, television, in provoking extreme nationalism. Zimmermann also emphasizes the countless decent people who consistently opposed virulent nationalism. Any hope for the future lies with this reserve of Yugoslav humanists, who may ``one day help to build societies not driven by rabid nationalism.'' Finally, the diplomat draws universal lessons from the Yugoslav experience. From questions of minority rights to the international community's ability to meet ethnic challenges, ``the issues fought out with such savagery in Yugoslavia . . . apply around the globe.'' Zimmermann represents the best of the Foreign Service--a dedicated professional who brings both learned and instinctual insight to his work. His timely insider analysis is enlivened with unforgettable portraits of a bizarre cast of characters. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

... valuable because of the access the Ambassador enjoyed to the key players ... an important contribution to the growing body of work on Yugoslavia. -- The New York Times Book Review, Laura Silber

last American ambassador offers his personal, behind-the-scenes account of what happed to this doomed country and why. "The most concise and comprehensive answer to the central question, 'Why did this happen?'"--George Soros. of photos.

Warren Zimmermann is the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Professor in the Practice of International Diplomacy at Columbia University.