Herbert S. Okun
Herbert Stuart Okun (November 27, 1930 – November 8, 2011)
Early life and education
Okun was born in Brooklyn. He earned his A.B. in history from Stanford University in 1951, and his Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School, then known as the Harvard Graduate School of Public Administration, in 1959. His father, a Jewish immigrant from Dzyarzhynsk, was a wholesale vegetable vendor in New York City.
Career
Okun decided to become a diplomat at 16 after reading 1947
As a young foreign service officer, Okun translated the correspondence between President John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Okun recalled that Khrushchev nicknamed him "ryzhyi" (redhead) because of his hair color.[1]
Okun also was the chief State Department negotiator for the SALT Treaty. While at the United Nations, Okun led a walkout of the U.S. delegation during a speech by Iranian President Ali Khamenei. "The false accusations that he made against our country distort the facts and totally misrepresent our policy," Okun told reporters. "I do not intend to sit by passively when our country is insulted, our President is pilloried and the truth is trampled."[3]
After retiring from the
Okun testified against Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. In an interview, Okun said in 2006, "Observing how he talked and acted I could not come to any other conclusion than Milošević being a common gangster. You know, those types from Mafia movies with cigars in their mouths, who try to express themselves very theatrically but in reality are selling fog."[4]
While serving as Vance and Owen's aide, Okun warned Serb leader Radovan Karadžić before the fighting started: "If you continue to talk about the mortal danger that Serbs are under in Bosnia, you will end up committing preemptive genocide." Karadžić later was charged with war crimes in the 1995 massacre at Srebrenica, where as many as 8,000 Bosnian Muslims were killed, and Okun also testified against him in The Hague.[5]
"Diplomacy without force is like baseball without a bat," Okun famously said.[2][6]
References
- ^ a b c Langer, Emily (November 15, 2011). "Herbert S. Okun, U.S. peace negotiator during the Balkan conflict, dies at 80". The Washington Post.
- ^ a b Binder, David (July 11, 1994). "Conversations/Herbert S. Okun; What Comes After Containment? It May Be Son of Containment". The New York Times.
- ^ Kempster, Norman (September 23, 1987). "Iran Threatens to Retaliate for U.S. Attack". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Juresko-Kero, Jadranka (April 15, 2006). "Interview with American Ambassador Okun". Večernji list. Zagreb.
- ^ Rieff 1996, pp. 112
- ^ Rieff 1996, pp. 210
Sources
- Rieff, David (1996). Slaughterhouse: Bosnia and the Failure of the West. ISBN 0-684-81903-1.