Brian Castner is the Head of Crisis Research with Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Programme, specializing in weapons and military operations. In his role he investigates arms embargo breaches and violations of international humanitarian law; his latest field missions include Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Ukraine. 

Castner is a former Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) officer in the United States Air Force, where he served in Iraq, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. In the military he specialized in unexploded ordnance, improvised explosive devices, post-blast investigations, and chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. After his military experience, Castner became a journalist, writing stories for the New York Times, Esquire, Wired, Foreign Policy, The Atlantic, and National Public Radio. He has twice received grants from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and is the author of four nonfiction books.