Uniting
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A leading voice on the Balkans, Edward P. Joseph has served in every conflict theatre in the region, during the war years as well as in post-war implementation endeavors. He has served with the UN, OSCE, US Army/NATO, International Crisis Group, and Catholic Relief Services. Edward has served as a senior official in all three of the region’s divided cities: Mostar, Brcko and Mitrovica.

In May, 2012, as the US-nominated, Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Edward negotiated an eleventh-hour agreement between Belgrade and Pristina to hold Serbian national elections in Kosovo, averting a confrontation. In a rarity, Serbs and Kosovars joined in praise for the precedent-setting OSCE role, along with Secretary of State Clinton and OSCE Secretary-General Zannier.

From Knin, the capital of the breakaway ‘Republika Srpska Krajina’ in Croatia to Sarajevo, Mostar, Bihac, Tuzla and Zepa during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Edward witnessed each permutation of the conflict as a UN civil affairs officer.

A key moment of his war-time service occurred in July, 1995 – contemporaneous with the massacres in neighboring Srebrenica – when Edward and one UN colleague coordinated the evacuation of women, children and wounded soldiers from the fallen Zepa ‘safe area.’ This required face-to-face dealings with Generals Ratko Mladic, Zdravko Tolimir and other senior Bosnian Serb officers. Edward testified in two Hague Tribunal trials that resulted in convictions.

Edward has brought his conflict management experience into the classroom at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies where he teaches. Drawing on his regional experience, he has authored dozens of articles, including on Zepa. His recent ’The Kyiv-Kosovo Catalyst’ explains how Ukraine's recognition of Kosovo can accelerate US-EU diplomacy, inflicting a blow on Putin. The article is the most viewed ever on SAIS Review of International Affairs. Edward’s article, ‘The Balkans, Interrupted’, was a Foreign Affairs, ‘Best of the Year.’

Outside the Balkans, Edward has served in missions in Iraq (2007), Afghanistan (2008-9), Pakistan (2007- 8) and Haiti (2005-6; 2010.) He is a frequent commentator on political issues for Middle East television networks; Edward has led and currently serves on the board of the National Council on US-Libya Relations.

Edward earned his J.D. at the University of Virginia School of Law, and his B.A. and M.A. from Johns Hopkins University, and its School of Advanced International Studies. Trained as a helicopter pilot in the US Army Reserve, Edward is a veteran. He speaks Bosnian /Croatian / Serbian; and French, Italian and Spanish.