The son of a Korean mother and a half African-American and half Caucasian father whose thirty years of military service included combat duty in Korea and Vietnam, Paul Chappell is a 2002 West Point graduate who served in Iraq as a captain. He has been obsessed with the need to end war since he was a child and as a young adult wanted to discover how to heal the causes of violence and conflict. His groundbreaking work offers clear and compelling insights based on military training, experience, and extensive research into human nature and the myths that perpetuate war. His persuasive dialogue on ending war avoids blaming any particular political group and offers deeper solutions to our national and global problems that have appealed to liberals, conservatives, veterans and civilians.

His two acclaimed books, Will War Ever End? and The End of War, explore the interconnected problems of war and peace and call for urgency supported by renewed hope, optimism, and solutions.

Mary Stata works at the Friends Committee on National Legislation, where she leads the Peaceful Prevention of Deadly Conflict program. Mary lobbies the U.S. government to invest in non-military tools that help prevent violent conflict before it starts. Mary also leads the Prevention and Protection Working Group, a coalition of over 30 human rights, humanitarian, religious, and peace organizations dedicated to improving US capacities to help prevent mass atrocities and protect civilians threatened by it.

Prior to joining FCNL, Mary worked in India and Washington, DC for Mennonite Central Committee – a relief, development, and peacebuilding organization that operates in over 60 countries around the world. While in India, she taught English and worked at a women's center. Most recently, Mary's advocacy work in Washington focused on conflicts in central Africa, HIV/AIDS policy, and foreign assistance reform. 

Pamela Aall is a senior vice president at the U.S. Institute of Peace and provost of USIP’s Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding, the recently established education and training center for practitioners working in or on conflict.

Her research interests include mediation, non-official organizations, civil–military relations, education and training, and the role of education in exacerbating conflict or promoting reconciliation. She is past president of Women in International Security, an organization dedicated to promoting women’s professional advancement in the foreign affairs and security fields. She has also worked at the Rockefeller Foundation, the European Cultural Foundation, and the International Council for Educational Development.

Aall has co-authored and co-edited a number of books and articles, including the Guide to IGOs, NGOs and the Military in Peace and Relief Operations (2000).With Chester A. Crocker and Fen Osler Hampson, she has written and edited a series of books on international conflict management including Leashing the dogs of war: conflict management in a divided world (2007); Grasping the nettle: analyzing cases of intractable conflict (2005); Taming intractable conflicts: mediation in the hardest cases (2004); and Turbulent peace: the challenges of managing international conflict (2001). Their latest jointly edited volume isRewiring regional security in a fragmented world (2011). They are also series editors for the Routledge Studies in Security and Conflict Management.