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Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey
“Mo”
Diplomat - fighter; investment banker - football player; attorney - prisoner
If experience composes the story then Mo is the writer who reflects the contradictions that give life and art integrity. Memoirs, too often though, are efforts at rationalization. Hypocrisy is the most revealing outcome. Popular culture feasts on stereotypes and confuses clichés with individualism’s ideals. However, Mo’s toil is not a crusade against pretense, but a playing field where the confident idols of today’s culture are challenged by the genuine self-doubters.
A cynic and romantic, idealist and realist, disillusioned and optimistic:
Political Refugee’s Football Play over Harvard to the Shrines of American Finance
Muhamed Sacirbey or “Mo’s” careers san from diplomat and investment banker to writer and co-founder helping child victims of war and natural disaster. Change and challenge are the usual in Mo’s life. He escaped Communist Yugoslavia as a young child and wandered the world as a political refugee with his parents. Starting life anew as an immigrant, Mo was elected by his peers to the student council at Valley Forge High in Ohio before he ever became a US citizen. Admitted to Harvard, Mo accepted a football scholarship to Tulane in New Orleans. He finished law school and completed his MBA at Columbia Business School in New York. He was legal counsel to Standard & Poor’s and had a lucrative career as investment banker.
Capitalist Zeal Gives Way to Call of Victimized New Country & Its People
Mo’s life took another sharp turn when he was asked to become Ambassador to the United Nations for the newly independent Bosnia & Herzegovina, a country reeling from war and aggression. Not a traditional diplomat, he became one of the more recognized advocates in Europe, the Muslim world and US for both the war torn country and in the defense of open societies challenged by an opportunistic tide of intolerance, political fascism and religious extremism. What started as a short detour from private enterprise and his “normal” American life, became with Mo an integral part of Bosnia’s defense, military, legal as well as political. He was Bosnia’s “Agent” before the International Court of Justice, and instigator for and representative to the Hague War Crimes Tribunal.
Media Diplomacy
Appealing to public opinion can be more effective than backroom diplomacy especially when you have to make room for yourself at the deal table. From “Larry King” to “Good-morning America,” to the BBC to Dutch television Mo, became the frequent presence. His work was on behalf of Bosnia, but also for other victims, Rwanda to Central Asia, peoples and victims lost in the reshuffle of the new world order. The speakers’ circuit, crossed in unorthodox fashion, was as an effective a platform: The Harvard Model United Nations to the Emmy Awards. Authorship, both in the traditionally political and culture and entertainment publications was a staple of the effort. Spin or People magazine were the canvas as well as op-eds in The Wall Street Journal and New York Times.
Unjust Peace is Preferable to Just War
After the assassination of his predecessor, Mo was asked to take over the post of Foreign Minister. Each trip into Sarajevo was a gauntlet: mortars, sniper fire and a lifeline tunnel. The journey to peace was even more perilous dealing with ambitious mediators, the conflicting interests of the globe’s super-powers and an enemy stained by genocide and driven by personal objectives of power rather than ideology. Mo signed the Dayton/Paris Peace Accords, an act he defines as both the right step and an unjust peace. It is this injustice and imperfect peace that he still strives today to make better.
Sharing a Cell with Alleged Hit-men and Drug Kingpins
Disillusioned, Mo wanted to return to his private life in America. Maybe that was his greatest mistake, in multiples. Maybe one can go back, but it’s not possible to escape the visibility that life allocates. Sensing vulnerability and opportunity, Mo’s enemies in the United States and overseas took advantage of Mo’s self-imposed exile from public life to trump-up politically motivated allegations against him. Mo was locked-up in New York City by the US Federal Authorities for 17 months, denied bail, presumably awaiting extradition where no charges or extraditable offense exited. From dining with world statesmen and promoting the new International Criminal Court, Mo was subjected to treatment as a criminal felon and shared meals with other prisoners. It’s not a point of shame for Mo, and he’s humbled by the relationships and friendships he formed in that prison environment as well. While that environment denies humanity and optimism, only the prisoners, those fortunate enough, understood how to see beyond the despair.
This Cliché is Applicable
What does not kill, only makes you stronger: Mo feels greater resolve and peace. Along with a range of allies, Mo has, so far successfully, represented himself in court and before public opinion. He has provided testimony to the Hague Tribunal for the Milosevic prosecution, including the acquiescence, if not complicity, of representatives of western democracies in the perpetuation of Milosevic’s dictatorship and crimes. Even before his imprisonment, Mo had written extensively and continues to work on behalf of the Global Medical Relief Fund, a foundation committed to victims of war and natural disaster.
Rock Concert and an Islamic Choir
Mo’s private life maybe is not so private. It has reflected the wealth of his public work. Mo had the fortune of making friendships with many of cultures’ prominent personalities. He organized U2’s concert in Sarajevo to promote reconciliation immediately after the war. The message: all is possible and everyone can find opportunity for expression in the post-war Bosnia: It was rock-n-roll on the same stage with an Islamic choir. Mo and Susan Sacirbey have been partners for over a quarter of a century. Yet, he has had the benefit of the love and support of others in his life. They have been cohorts in war and peace. While it has been taken advantage of by some as fodder for tabloid, Mo has never concealed his present or past or, in the alternative, exploited such for its sensationalism.
One Love, One Life and One Truth are our own creations to reconcile lives of complexity and contradictions. “Edgy” is not a fashion statement but a calling.
“Mo”
Diplomat - fighter; investment banker - football player; attorney - prisoner
If experience composes the story then Mo is the writer who reflects the contradictions that give life and art integrity. Memoirs, too often though, are efforts at rationalization. Hypocrisy is the most revealing outcome. Popular culture feasts on stereotypes and confuses clichés with individualism’s ideals. However, Mo’s toil is not a crusade against pretense, but a playing field where the confident idols of today’s culture are challenged by the genuine self-doubters.
A cynic and romantic, idealist and realist, disillusioned and optimistic:
Political Refugee’s Football Play over Harvard to the Shrines of American Finance
Muhamed Sacirbey or “Mo’s” careers san from diplomat and investment banker to writer and co-founder helping child victims of war and natural disaster. Change and challenge are the usual in Mo’s life. He escaped Communist Yugoslavia as a young child and wandered the world as a political refugee with his parents. Starting life anew as an immigrant, Mo was elected by his peers to the student council at Valley Forge High in Ohio before he ever became a US citizen. Admitted to Harvard, Mo accepted a football scholarship to Tulane in New Orleans. He finished law school and completed his MBA at Columbia Business School in New York. He was legal counsel to Standard & Poor’s and had a lucrative career as investment banker.
Capitalist Zeal Gives Way to Call of Victimized New Country & Its People
Mo’s life took another sharp turn when he was asked to become Ambassador to the United Nations for the newly independent Bosnia & Herzegovina, a country reeling from war and aggression. Not a traditional diplomat, he became one of the more recognized advocates in Europe, the Muslim world and US for both the war torn country and in the defense of open societies challenged by an opportunistic tide of intolerance, political fascism and religious extremism. What started as a short detour from private enterprise and his “normal” American life, became with Mo an integral part of Bosnia’s defense, military, legal as well as political. He was Bosnia’s “Agent” before the International Court of Justice, and instigator for and representative to the Hague War Crimes Tribunal.
Media Diplomacy
Appealing to public opinion can be more effective than backroom diplomacy especially when you have to make room for yourself at the deal table. From “Larry King” to “Good-morning America,” to the BBC to Dutch television Mo, became the frequent presence. His work was on behalf of Bosnia, but also for other victims, Rwanda to Central Asia, peoples and victims lost in the reshuffle of the new world order. The speakers’ circuit, crossed in unorthodox fashion, was as an effective a platform: The Harvard Model United Nations to the Emmy Awards. Authorship, both in the traditionally political and culture and entertainment publications was a staple of the effort. Spin or People magazine were the canvas as well as op-eds in The Wall Street Journal and New York Times.
Unjust Peace is Preferable to Just War
After the assassination of his predecessor, Mo was asked to take over the post of Foreign Minister. Each trip into Sarajevo was a gauntlet: mortars, sniper fire and a lifeline tunnel. The journey to peace was even more perilous dealing with ambitious mediators, the conflicting interests of the globe’s super-powers and an enemy stained by genocide and driven by personal objectives of power rather than ideology. Mo signed the Dayton/Paris Peace Accords, an act he defines as both the right step and an unjust peace. It is this injustice and imperfect peace that he still strives today to make better.
Sharing a Cell with Alleged Hit-men and Drug Kingpins
Disillusioned, Mo wanted to return to his private life in America. Maybe that was his greatest mistake, in multiples. Maybe one can go back, but it’s not possible to escape the visibility that life allocates. Sensing vulnerability and opportunity, Mo’s enemies in the United States and overseas took advantage of Mo’s self-imposed exile from public life to trump-up politically motivated allegations against him. Mo was locked-up in New York City by the US Federal Authorities for 17 months, denied bail, presumably awaiting extradition where no charges or extraditable offense exited. From dining with world statesmen and promoting the new International Criminal Court, Mo was subjected to treatment as a criminal felon and shared meals with other prisoners. It’s not a point of shame for Mo, and he’s humbled by the relationships and friendships he formed in that prison environment as well. While that environment denies humanity and optimism, only the prisoners, those fortunate enough, understood how to see beyond the despair.
This Cliché is Applicable
What does not kill, only makes you stronger: Mo feels greater resolve and peace. Along with a range of allies, Mo has, so far successfully, represented himself in court and before public opinion. He has provided testimony to the Hague Tribunal for the Milosevic prosecution, including the acquiescence, if not complicity, of representatives of western democracies in the perpetuation of Milosevic’s dictatorship and crimes. Even before his imprisonment, Mo had written extensively and continues to work on behalf of the Global Medical Relief Fund, a foundation committed to victims of war and natural disaster.
Rock Concert and an Islamic Choir
Mo’s private life maybe is not so private. It has reflected the wealth of his public work. Mo had the fortune of making friendships with many of cultures’ prominent personalities. He organized U2’s concert in Sarajevo to promote reconciliation immediately after the war. The message: all is possible and everyone can find opportunity for expression in the post-war Bosnia: It was rock-n-roll on the same stage with an Islamic choir. Mo and Susan Sacirbey have been partners for over a quarter of a century. Yet, he has had the benefit of the love and support of others in his life. They have been cohorts in war and peace. While it has been taken advantage of by some as fodder for tabloid, Mo has never concealed his present or past or, in the alternative, exploited such for its sensationalism.
One Love, One Life and One Truth are our own creations to reconcile lives of complexity and contradictions. “Edgy” is not a fashion statement but a calling.