Slobodan Milosevic's decision to withdraw Serb forces from Kosovo last spring was helped along by a surprising secret envoy: Peter Castenfelt (MBA '72), chairman of Archipelago Enterprises, a London-based financial firm. Reporting that Castenfelt had met privately with Milosevic and had composed a breakthrough memorandum while riding out a NATO bombing raid in a Belgrade bunker, the Financial Times (June 14, 1999) asserted that Castenfelt was instrumental "in convincing the Yugoslav leadership of the need to end the war."

Castenfelt has long enjoyed the trust of the Russian government, dating back to 1990 when he agreed to act as an advisor to the financially strapped Bolshoi Theatre. It was the first of several pro bono projects the Swedish-born Castenfelt undertook in Russia, and it eventually led the Yeltsin administration to appoint him as an official advisor on economic issues. In this capacity, he became a frequent interlocutor between financial institutions in Russia and the West, particularly the IMF.

Because the Russians felt that Milosevic was not comprehending NATO's position and demands, they brought in Castenfelt, who, after briefings by top Western officials, met with the Serb leader. Castenfelt "explained to us for the first time what the truth was," said a source close to the leadership of the Serbian security services. "We had never heard it before."

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