(content note: discussion of war and mass death; also a long aside about the philosophy of apologies)

After 100,000 people were killed in the Bosnian war, the three sides eventually met for mediation in the United States. To be clear, the attempted negotiators for most of the war were the EU and the UN, but after the Srebrenica massacre (8,000 men and boys killed) in an area that the UN had designated a 'safe area', the US was shocked and felt that if they didn't take responsibility for ending the war, the war would never end. (It had also shaken things up enough that NATO got the political backing to take independent military action in the region, so all sides involved felt more threatened and like they might lose.)

Richard Holbrooke, the assistant secretary of state for Europe, was experienced in getting agreements, and felt the US had an obligation to act. He requested meetings with the Presidents of the different sides, which they accepted. To then get them to the point of being willing to meet and hash out an agreement, he traveled between the Premiers some dozens of times in a 6-8 week period, what's known as [...]

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First published:

November 17th, 2025

Source:

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/MDoy8yuPxwqx5vj3g/mediators-a-different-route-through-conflict

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.