the Communist regime led by Josip Broz (Tito) controlled Yugoslavia, and Sacirbey's parents opposed Tito's authoritarian government. For their dissenting political beliefs, Sacirbey's parents were imprisoned for a time. In the 1960s, the Sacirbey family fled Yugoslavia and immigrated to the United States, where they settled in Ohio. On April 27, 1973, at the age of sixteen, Sacirbey became a naturalized citizen of the United States. During the years that followed, Sacirbey attended Tulane University on a football scholarship; he earned a bachelor's degree and a degree in law at Tulane and a Master of Business Administration degree at Columbia University. After his admission to the Bar of the State of New York, Sacirbey worked as a lawyer for a New York law firm. In the 1980s, heleft his law firm to work in the financial sector, first as a Vice President at Standard and Poor's, the rating agency, and later as Vice President of an investment bank.
On April 5, 1992, the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovinia ("Bosnia") declared its independence from Yugoslavia. The United States officially recognized Bosnia's independence two days later, and Bosnia was admitted to membership in the United Nations on May 22, 1992. Shortly thereafter, Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, a leader of the Muslim community of Bosnia, appointed Sacirbey to serve as Bosnia's ambassador to the United Nations. Despite international recognition, Bosnian Serbs continued to oppose independence and, with the support of the government of Serbiaa neighboring province in the former Yugoslavialaunched a violent campaign to partition the country along ethnic