He is the author of 13 books, including Unreliable Watchdog: The News Media and U.S. Foreign Policy, NATO: The Dangerous Dinosaur (2019), Gullible Superpower: U.S. Support for Bogus Foreign Democratic Movements (2019), The Ties That Blind: How the U.S.-Saudi Alliance Damages Liberty and Security (2018), Perilous Partners: The Benefits and Pitfalls of America’s Alliances with Authoritarian Regimes (2015), The Fire Next Door: Mexico’s Drug Violence and the Danger to America (2012), Smart Power: Toward a Prudent Foreign Policy for America (2008), America’s Coming War with China: A Collision Course over Taiwan (2005), The Korean Conundrum: America’s Troubled Relations with North and South Korea (2004), Bad Neighbor Policy: Washington’s Futile War on Drugs in Latin America (2003), The Captive Press: Foreign Policy Crises and the First Amendment (1995), Beyond NATO: Staying Out of Europe’s Wars (1994), and A Search for Enemies: America’s Alliances after the Cold War (1992). He also is the editor of 10 books on international issues, including NATO’s Empty Victory: A Postmortem on the Balkan War (2000), Delusions of Grandeur: The United Nations and Global Intervention (1997), and America Entangled: The Persian Gulf Crisis and Its Consequences (1991).
Carpenter is a contributing editor to the National Interest, the American Conservative, and 19FortyFive, and is a weekly columnist at Antiwar.com. He serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Strategic Studies and was a member of Mediterranean Quarterly’s editorial board from 1998 to 2018. Carpenter is the author of more than 1100 articles and policy studies. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the National Interest, World Policy Journal, and many other publications. He is a frequent guest on radio and television programs in the United States, Latin America, Europe, East Asia, and other regions.
Carpenter received his PhD in U.S. diplomatic history from the University of Texas.