It's hard to imagine a place more different from dreary Belgrade. In an eighth-floor apartment above New York City's Central Park West, Richard Holbrooke slumps into a soft couch in his book-lined study to recount his latest diplomatic adventure. Sipping a Diet Coke and fielding phone calls while he talks, Holbrooke is clearly a man wired by more than caffeine. Back from the Balkans fewer than three days--and with a fragile peace in hand--he is answering calls of congratulations and patching up some final diplomatic work.
As the world turns its attention from Kosovo, Holbrooke is switching his focus to the...