Owensboro’s Morton Holbrook, a former U.S. Diplomat, on Wednesday discussed his experience overseas and provided a history lesson saying that the war in Ukraine right now shares a few similarities with America’s history.
An Owensboro native, Holbrook started his time as a diplomat in 1975 going to Taipei, Taiwan. Holbrook went on to different posts across Asia and parts of Europe, including Beijing and Shenyang in China; Tokyo, Japan; Manila, Philippines; and Paris, France.
He first noted that working in an embassy is like working in a microcosm of American government, just across the globe. He said things moved faster and everyone reported back to the Ambassador their observations and lessons learned from a given period of time.
“What I did was try to assess what’s going on in that country that affects the United States. And of course, one of the first priorities is (asking) are they a threat to the United States,” Holbrook said.
He said the job of an embassy ultimately boils down to protecting the American interests and relations.
In discussing the situation in Ukraine, Holbrook said it’s similar to a few instances in America’s past.
His first comparison was when Iraq invading Kuwait in 1990, mentioning how similarly then-President George H. W. Bush handled the crisis. However, Holbrook noted there is a major difference between then and now: NATO was not yet formed at the time, and nuclear weapons were not a major concern in 1990.
Holbrook then talked about the Soviet Union invading East Berlin in the 1950s and the Cuban Missile Crisis under President John F. Kennedy in the 1960s.
Holbrook said similar to how Kennedy was concerned about missiles outside the U.S., Russian President Vladmir Putin is concerned of missiles outside of Russia.
“At least that gives some rationale, I suppose to Putin’s concern, as we had the same concern,” Holbrook said.
Holbrook said diplomats are finding it hard to find a balance in the current international conflict; he said many want to support Ukraine, but don’t want to fight Russia.
He noted how President Joe Biden is trying to find that balance, as the president mentioned in his State of the Union address that efforts are being made to keep NATO territories protected from the crossfire.
“It’s a clear line that the United States is committing. So I gotta give Biden credit for that,” Holbrook said.
