Bosnian Serb gunners continued to shell and isolate Sarajevo in 1995 as United Nations peacekeepers struggled to stop the escalating humanitarian tragedy unfolding in Bosnia. Over ten days in July, Serbian troops under General Ratko Mladic executed eight thousand men and boys in a campaign of genocide near the remote UN safe are of Srebrenica. Suddenly, a reluctant United States could no longer avoid the deadly breakup of Yugoslavia. Peacemakers is the first inclusive history of the successful multilateral intervention in the Balkans from 1995 to 2008 by an official directly involved in the diplomatic and military responses to the crises. A tragic accident near Sarajevo in 1995 thrust James Pardew into the center of efforts to stop the fighting in Bosnia. He provides a candid account of the negotiations between Richard Holbrooke, Slobodan Milosevic, and others in pursuit first of peace in Bosnia and Croatia. Peacemakers then moves beyond Bosnia to describe the insurgency, war, and independence in Kosovo and the negotiations leading to the Ohrid Agreement, which prevented an ethnic war in Macedonia. The American intervention in the Balkans was a turning point in international relations and the high-water mark of US-Russian relations in the post-Soviet era. Pardew describes how the United States successfully combined aggressive diplomacy, the selective use of military force, and multilateral cooperation to end or prevent war and human suffering. In addition, he offers behind-the-scenes insights into the human drama of the process, illuminating the motives, character, talents, and weaknesses of the heroes and villains involved. Pardew shows that the use of US power to relieve human suffering supports US national interests and fits naturally with American values. Peacemakers serves as a potent reminder that American leadership and multilateral cooperation are often critical to resolving international crises. -- Inside jacket flaps.

1. Bosnia : shuttle diplomacy -- Welcome to the Balkans -- Fools and madmen -- The inconvenient war -- Genocide -- Death on a Balkan mountain -- The godfather -- Lifting the siege -- A certain kind of technology -- Sarajevo -- The last shuttle -- 2. Bosnia : the Dayton Agreement -- High stakes in Ohio -- Get an agreement or shut it down -- Richard Holbrooke -- 3. Bosnia : military stability -- A president's commitment -- Getting started -- Two conditions -- International donors -- Hard choices -- No easy prey -- Wrestling an alligator -- Impact -- 4. Kosovo : war and independence -- A land of violence and fear -- Prelude to war -- Madeleine's war -- Midwife to a nation -- Independence -- 5. Macedonia : the Ohrid Agreement -- A war or a nation? -- Pop-up insurgency -- Leo-pard -- Fury in Skopje -- On the banks of an ancient lake -- The long struggle -- Turning point : American leadership and the Balkans, 1995-2008 -- Crisis management : the Balkan experience.