Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Fareed Zakaria: Man You Should Know
Posted by Josh in Fareed Zakaria, Iraq, Man You Should Know, Politics
Executive Summary: Author, Commentator, Analyst, and Soon-to-be television host who is one of the world experts in foreign affairs and the Middle East.
Why Know Him: While most TV and magazine pundits are, for lack of a better word, blithering idiots, Zakaria discusses foreign policy with realism and sophistication. He also demonstrates a sense of grace an humor that is often missing from modern political discussion. If that wasn’t enough, he is right most of the time too.
A lot of people write and talk about politics. Magazines and newspapers print reams of columns and stories. TV stations parade out an endless list of former flacks, journalists and mental patients. And then the internet, don’t even get me started on the internet. It is full of people like, well, me, who spout off without knowing what the hell they are talking about.
While it can be hard to know who to listen to, it never hurts to keep an eye out for Fareed Zakaria. Zakaria is the editor of Newsweek International and has also written several books on foreign affairs (specifically on the role of the US). He writes a weekly column for Newsweek, is an ABC News analyst, and a frequent commentator on foreign affairs for a variety of cable programs. He is also a frequent guest on The Daily Show. However, In the world of professional political commentary, face time doesn’t actually mean that you know anything.
Check out after the jump to find out how Fareed Zakaria just keeps getting things right.
Zakaria was born in Mumbai, India. He went to a prestigious Indian private school and then came to the United States to attend Yale and Harvard, where he got his PhD in Political Science. After teaching at Harvard, he moved on to become the editor of Foreign Affairs, an influential journal on foreign policy and international relations. He has also been published in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal and The New Republic. On the side, he wrote a wine column for Slate. He will soon be hosting his own show on CNN.
Zakaria is a strong advocate of the United States taking an active role internationally and avidly supports free-market economic policies. He argues that we should help countries modernize their societies and economies rather than emphasizing elections and democracy. This puts him at odds with the current US administration, which pursues elections and democracy over stability and economic development (see Iraq, Palestine). His most famous piece was a Newsweek cover story written shortly after September 11, 2001 titled “The Politics of Rage: Why Do They Hate Us?“, in which he analyzed the various reasons that the Arab world is hostile to America. Here is a video of him explaining the piece on The Daily Show.
Zakaria’s views on Iraq and the Middle East seem to be consistently proven true. He initially supported the Iraq War, but argued it should be a larger UN-led force (like Bosnia). However, since the invasion and ensuing occupation, he has become a vocal critic of the Bush administration, arguing against many of the steps they have taken. He was opposed to disbanding the Iraqi army and to “de-Baathification.” He was also one of the first pundits to warn of of increasing sectarian tensions.
Zakaria is a rarity among political commentators. He is a man who is studied, but still approaches issues by realistically assessing the goals of the parties involved. He loves America, but tries to honestly understand and explain those two hate it. What we can learn from Zakaria is too look at an issue from every side, and to never let our ideology dictate our positions.
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