Edward P. Joseph

Edward P. Joseph is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations. He brings extensive field and conflict experience in key foreign policy theatres to his writing and speaking. Edward served on the ground in the Balkans virtually throughout the conflict period, from 1992 to 2003. In war-torn Bosnia, he saw the conflict first-hand in all its permutations, from Serb-Bosniak, Bosniak-Croat, and even Bosniak-Bosniak fighting. In July, 1995, Edward and a UN colleague dealt personally with the notorious General Ratko Mladic, coordinating the evacuation of the Zepa "safe area", contemporaneous with the atrocities in neighboring Srebrenica.

After the Dayton Agreement, Edward returned to Bosnia on active duty with the US Army, assigned to the NATO Implementation Force. He then inagurated OSCE's democracy efforts, eventually serving for two years heading the OSCE presence in the two most contentious areas of the country: Mostar and Brcko. Edward advised the Brcko Abritrator on the Final Award, and then turned his attention to the next crisis: Kosovo. Edward co-managed the well-visited Stenkovec-I refugee camp on the Kosovo border, working for Catholic Relief Services.

Following work for the Democratic National Committee for the Gore campaign, Edward returned to the Balkans in late 2000 to serve in a leadership role in the third divided city of the Balkans: Mitrovica. Following this work in Kosovo for the UN, Edward was asked to head the International Crisis Group office in Macedonia, as conflict broke out there in 2001. His reports on the dispute over Macedonia's name and on corruption had substantial impact.

In 2003, Edward published "Back to the Balkans" in Foreign Affairs. He served in Iraq during the summer and fall of 2004, in Baghdad's "red zone", coordinating a major USAID democracy program.

In 2005-6, Edward served in Haiti, ultimately leading the USAID-funded election observation mission.

In 2007, Edward volunteered for the Biden campaign in Iowa, departing to go to Pakistan. He held one of the final meetings with Benazir Bhutto, less than 24 hours before her assasination, in Peshawar, capital of the volatile North-West Frontier Province. In late 2008-early 2009, Edward was part of a three person team that evaluated USAID's core local stability program, visiting a dozen provinces including Kandahar.

In 2008, Edward worked on the Obama foreign policy team. He has taught at SAIS and has published articles in a number of journals including SAIS Review, Internationale Politik, as well as virtually every major US newspaper. Edward is a frequent commentator on radio and television. He earned his bachelors and masters degree from Johns Hopkins University and SAIS, respectively; and earned his law degree at the University of Virginia. Edward served as a US Army aviator (UH-1 helicopter pilot.) He speaks Serbian & Croatian, as well as French, Italian and Spanish.