Ambassador Peter W. Galbraith is an author, academic, commentator, politician, policy advisor, and former United States diplomat. From 1993 to 1998, he served as the first U.S. Ambassador to Croatia, where he was co-mediator of the 1995 Erdut Agreement that ended the Croatian War of Independence. He also served as a cabinet member in East Timor’s first transitional government, where he successfully negotiated the Timor Sea Treaty.

In 2009, Ambassador Galbraith served as Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan. He later served two terms as a Vermont State Senator from Windham County (2011–2015) and was a candidate for Governor of Vermont in 2016. He is the author of two critically acclaimed books on the Iraq War, including the bestselling The End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created a War Without End.

Ambassador Galbraith has long been engaged in Kurdish affairs. In the 1980s, he uncovered early evidence of the Anfal campaign against Iraqi Kurds and, in 1988, documented the use of chemical weapons. His work contributed to the passage of the “Prevention of Genocide Act of 1988” by the U.S. Senate. He was present in Kurdistan during the 1991 uprising, and his reports—including video documentation—helped inform the U.S. decision to establish a safe zone. Beginning in 2003, he served as an informal advisor to the Kurdistan Regional Government, supporting Kurdish representatives during the drafting of the 2005 Iraqi Constitution.

Ambassador Galbraith currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, the research arm of the Council for a Livable World.

He has also had a distinguished academic career, serving as Assistant Professor of International Relations and Economics at Windham College (1975–1978), and later as Professor of National Security Strategy at the National War College in 1999 and from 2001 to 2003. In addition to his books, he has written extensively for leading publications, including The New York Review of Books, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Guardian.

Ambassador Galbraith holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College, a Master of Arts from Oxford University, and a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center.