Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century
by George Packer
George Packer tells the story of Richard Holbrooke as a way to examine American power at its peak and its unraveling. Holbrooke emerges as brilliant, relentless, and often exhausting—an embodiment of a certain foreign-policy confidence. Packer traces his career through Vietnam, the Balkans, and the post–Cold War order, highlighting both achievements and blind spots. The book is as much about temperament as policy, showing how ego and urgency can shape outcomes. Packer writes with the narrative drive of a novelist and the skepticism of a reporter. He situates Holbrooke within the institutions that created him—State Department culture, elite networks, and the mythology of American indispensability. The biography asks what kind of person thrives in an empire’s management class. It also charts how ideals collide with realpolitik. Readers come away with a textured portrait of ambition and its costs. It’s a compelling lens on the “end of the American century” as lived experience.
