Edward H. Carpenter is a retired U.S. Marine officer who has served around the world from Afghanistan to Indonesia, with his final assignment being as the Chief of Policy and Plans for the 14,000 peacekeepers assigned to the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). With firsthand experience of the futility of war and the importance of effective peacebuilding, he now serves as the Director of World Without War, an organization focused on the abolition of humanity's most destructive institution. His non-fiction writing explores the problems with modern peacekeeping, and his short fiction examines the way war impacts people at the personal level. EXPERIENCE " 2025-present - Director, World Without War " 2023-2025 - Author, "Blue Helmet: My Year as a UN Peacekeeper in South Sudan" " 2021-2022 - Dual graduate programs at Harvard and the University of Melbourne " 2019-2020 - Senior U.S. National Representative, UN Mission in South Sudan " 1999-2019 - worldwide service, including command and combat tours with U.S. Marines TEACHING " 2015 - Military Professor, Daniel K. Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies " 2014 - Adjunct Professor, University of Maryland University College EDUCATION - CIVILIAN " 2022 - Graduate Diploma in Philosophy, University of Melbourne " 2022 - Master of Liberal Arts in Creative Writing and Literature, Harvard Extension School " 2009 - Master of Arts in National Security Affairs, Naval Postgraduate School " 1998 - Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, New Mexico State University EDUCATION (MILITARY) " 2019 - Security Sector Reform, International Peace Support Training Centre (Nairobi) " 2018 - Air War College " 2011 - Indonesian Navy Command and Staff College, (Jakarta) PUBLICATIONS " 2025 - Blue Helmet: My Year as a UN Peacekeeper in South Sudan (Potomac Books) " 2024 - "The U.N. Can Do More to Protect Civilians in South Sudan" (World Politics Review) " 2023 - "Liberating Our Hostage Battalions: Improving Freedom of Movement in Peacekeeping" (U.S.I. Journal Special Edition: UN Peacekeeping) " 2020 - "East Africa has weathered pandemics -- and has a few things to teach the U.S." (Washington Post)