Matthew Palmer

Twenty years after the Srebrenica massacre that claimed the life of his friend and colleague, Eric Petrosian is back in Sarajevo at the American embassy, and the specter of war once again hangs over the Balkans. The Bosnian Serb leader, who had for a time been seeking a stable peace, has turned back to his nationalist roots and is threatening to pull Bosnia apart in a bloody struggle for control . . . and behind him is a shadowy mafia figure pulling the strings. As Eric is dragged deeper into the political maelstrom and uncovers a plot of blackmail and ruthless ambitions, Eric is faced with an impossible choice: use the information he’s uncovered to achieve atonement for the past or use it to shape the future. In an interview, Matthew Palmer can discuss topics including: • The very realistic threat of new armed conflict in Bosnia amidst decades of simmering tensions and complex politics • What still needs to be done on the road to reconciliation between Serbia and Kosovo – the April 19 Agreement (which Palmer helped to broker in his diplomatic career) is just one piece • Refugee pressure on the Balkans: How conflict could be renewed in the region if the E.U. moves forward with its idea to close the Macedonian-Greek border • Radovan Karadzic: The former leader of the Serb Republic in Bosnia was recently sentenced to 40 years in prison after being found guilty of genocide and other crimes against humanity during the Bosnian War. These crimes including the Srebrenica massacre, in which more than 7,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were executed by Bosnian Serb forces (and the opening scene of THE WOLF OF SARAJEVO) • Matthew’s career as a diplomat – elaborating on the TIME.com article he wrote on the realities of diplomacy • His excellent writing pedigree coming from a renowned writing family, including father Michael Palmer (touches upon in Q&A with Publishers Weekly) Follow Matthew on Facebook: www.facebook.com/MatthewPalmerAuthor ABOUT THE AUTHOR Matthew Palmer is a twenty-five-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and is currently serving as the Director for Multilateral Affairs in the State Department's Bureau of Asian and Pacific Affairs. Palmer has worked as a diplomat all over the world. While on the secretary of state's Policy Planning staff, he helped design and implement the Kimberley Process for certifying African diamonds as "conflict free." Praise for Matthew Palmer “Foreign Service officers often are heroes in real life. Matt Palmer has given us all the fictional hero worthy of the people with whom I worked. If I had known Matt Palmer could write like this I’d have asked him to do even more than he did.”— Madeline Albright