Background

Louis Sell was born in 1947.

Education

Louis Sell earned a Bachelor of Arts from Franklin & Marshall College in 1969; a Master of Arts from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in 1973.

Career

A retired Foreign Service Officer of the United States Department of State, Louis Sell served in various positions in 1974-2000. He worked for six years at the United States Embassy in Moscow and eight years in various places in Yugoslavia. He served as the United States representative to the Joint Consultative Group in Vienna, as a Director of the Office of Russian and Eurasian Analysis, a Director of the Office of United States-Soviet Bilateral Relations, and as a Special Assistant and Executive Secretary of the United States delegation to the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks. In 1995-1996, he was a political adviser to Carl Bildt, the first High Representative for Bosnian Peace Implementation. In that capacity, he attended the Dayton Peace Conference and participated in the first year of implementation of the Dayton accords. In 2000, he served as Kosovo Director of the International Crisis Group. He speaks Serbo-Croatian, Russian, and French. Serving as Executive Director of the American University in Kosovo Foundation (AUKF) from 2003 to 2007, Louis Sell helped found the American University in Kosovo, which opened its doors in October 2003. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Maine at Farmington. Louis sell is also a contributor to periodicals, including Wilson Quarterly, and East European Politics and Societies.

Louis Sell's career in the Department of State and his long involvement in Yugoslavia have put him in a unique position to write about the conflict that destroyed that nation. His presence in the region, fluency in Serbo-Croatian, easy access to intelligence material, and network of colleagues in diplomatic circles contributed to the fullness of the picture he was able to form for readers. Slobodan Milosevic and the Destruction of Yugoslavia is more than a biography of the controversial Yugoslav leader. Although Milosevic does hold the center stage position, it is also a detailed picture of the complete unraveling of the country. The author places particular emphasis on the rise to power of Milosevic and the confluence of personal and social conditions that allowed this to happen. The book is noted for its detailed account of the circumstances that enabled him to gain prominence, as well as his inevitable downfall. Sell pays particular attention to the complexities of both Yugoslav and Serbian party politics to give a rich description of this portion of history. The effects of international interventions are laid out, with much attention given to the delineation of the motivations for Milosevic's actions, his style of negotiation, relationships with his family, the military, and subordinates. The author makes the point that Milosevic was, for a time a dedicated socialist, but switched to Serbian nationalism when this seemed the surer path to power.

Louis Sell was standing behind George H.W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin in the Kremlin in 1993, watching as the two signed the START II nuclear arms reduction treaty. At that moment, Sell knew he would one day write a book about the collapse of the Soviet Union, he said. From Washington to Moscow: US-Soviet Relations and the Collapse of the USSR is part-memoir, part-academic text that traces the events, economics, and personalities that shaped the final two decades of the USSR - events Sell personally experienced as a foreign service officer and senior United States State Department official. Sell was on hand for many of the events detailed in his book. His personal experiences, however, are not the primary focus of the book. Sell draws from Soviet archives and memoirs of Soviet leaders - information unavailable to the western world throughout the Cold War - to document the causes behind the Soviet Union's collapse. Many of the archives Sell utilized are again closing to the public, he said. The research and documentation in Sell's book has garnered early praise from many of his former colleagues. Former United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union Jack Matlock called the book "a corrective, insider's view of world-changing events."

Achievements

• During his career, Louis Sell served in high positions. He helped found the American University in Kosovo. As an author, he has two books published.

Works

More photos

• book

  • From Washington to Moscow: US-Soviet Relations and the Collapse of the USSR

    (In From Washington to Moscow veteran US Foreign Service o...)

    2016
  • Slobodan Milosevic and the Destruction of Yugoslavia

    (In Slobodan Milosevic and the Destruction of Yugoslavia, ...)

    2002

Personality

Quotes from others about the person

• Kathryn A. Foster, the University of Maine-Farmington president: "Louis Sell is a policy historian and diplomat, a voice of calm during a time of great political turmoil in the world. He has made a valuable contribution to international diplomacy and in the higher education classroom."

Connections

Louis Sell lives with his family in a 200-year-old farmhouse in Whitefield, Maine.