Fareed Zakaria

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Fareed Zakaria
Fareed Zakaria in 2007
Born	January 20, 1964 (1964-01-20) (age 45) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Education	B.A., Yale University Ph.D., Harvard University
Occupation	Journalist, commentator, author
Spouse	Paula Throckmorton Zakaria
Children	Omar, Lila, Sofia
Notable credit(s)	Newsweek International, editor (2000–present) Fareed Zakaria GPS, host (2008–present) Foreign Exchange, host (2005–07) Foreign Affairs, managing editor
Official website

Fareed Zakaria (pronounced /fəˈriːd zəˈkɑriə/, born January 20, 1964)^[1] is an Indian-born naturalized American journalist, author, and television host specializing in international relations.

[edit] Early life

Zakaria was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India to a Muslim family. His father, Rafiq Zakaria, was a politician associated with the Indian National Congress and an Islamic scholar. His mother, Fatima Zakaria, was for a time the editor of the Sunday Times of India.

Zakaria attended The Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai. He received a B.A. from Yale University and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard University,^[2] where he studied under Samuel P. Huntington and Stanley Hoffmann.

[edit] Career

After participating in a research project on American foreign policy at Harvard, Zakaria became managing editor of Foreign Affairs magazine. In October 2000, he was named editor of Newsweek International.^[2] and writes a weekly foreign affairs column in it. He has also worked as a wine columnist for the webzine Slate,^[3] saying that wine "is the perfect gift." ^[4]

Zakaria is the author of From Wealth to Power: The Unusual Origins of America's World Role (Princeton, 1998), The Future of Freedom (Norton, 2003), and The Post-American World (2008); he has also co-edited The American Encounter: The United States and the Making of the Modern World (Basic Books).

Zakaria hosted the weekly TV news show, Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria, for PBS, and, from 2002 to 2007 was a news analyst with ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos. His new weekly show, Fareed Zakaria GPS ("GPS" meaning "Global Public Square") premiered on CNN in June 2008.^[2]

[edit] Views

Zakaria is regarded variously as a political liberal,^[5][6] a neoconservative,^[7], a conservative,^[8] or a moderate.^[9] He supported President Ronald Reagan in the past, but currently self-identifies as a "centrist".^[7] He wrote in Feb. 2008 that "Conservatism grew powerful in the 1970s and 1980s because it proposed solutions appropriate to the problems of the age", while- in contrast- "a new world requires new thinking".^[10] In January 2009 Forbes referred to Zakaria as one of the 25 most influential liberals" in the American media.^[5] Zakaria has stated that he tries not to be devoted to any type of ideology, saying "I feel that's part of my job... which is not to pick sides but to explain what I think is happening on the ground. I can't say, 'This is my team and I'm going to root for them no matter what they do.'"^[7]

In his book, The Future of Freedom, Zakaria argues that democracy works best in societies where it is preceded by "constitutional liberalism." He has written that liberty has historically preceded democracy, that countries which simply hold elections without broad-based modernization—including economic liberalization and the rule of law—end up becoming "illiberal democracies". Consequently, he has been critical of the George W. Bush administration's emphasis on holding elections in the Middle-East without equal regard to building institutions of law, governance, and liberty.

After the 9/11 attacks, Zakaria argued that Islamic extremism had its roots in the stagnation and dysfunctions of the Arab world. Decades of failure under tyrannical regimes, all claiming to be Western-style secular modernizers, had produced an opposition that was religious, violent, and increasingly globalized. Since the mosque was a place where people could gather and Islam an institution that was outside the reach of censorship, they both provided a context for the growth of the political opposition. Zakaria argued for a inter-generational effort to create more open and dynamic societies in Arab countries, and thereby helping Islam enter the modern world.^[11]

Zakaria initially supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq.^[8] He said at the time, “The place is so dysfunctional... any stirring of the pot is good. America’s involvement in the region is for the good."^[8] He argued for a United Nations-sanctioned operation with a much larger force—approximately 400,000 troops—than was actually employed by the administration of President George W. Bush. He also called for a Bosnia- or Kosovo-style occupation that was international in composition.^{[citation needed]} After the invasion, he frequently criticized the occupation of Iraq.^[12] He opposed the Iraq surge in March 2007, instead advocating the exact opposite- a reduction in forces to only 60,000 troops.^[12] In January 2009, he stated flatly that the surge "succeeded".^[13]

More recently, Zakaria has also criticized the "fear-based" policies employed not only in combating terrorism, but also in framing immigration laws and pursuing trade, and has argued instead for an open and confident United States.^[14]

[edit] Participation in Wolfowitz meeting

In his 2006 book State of Denial, Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward described a November 29, 2001, meeting of Middle East analysts, including Zakaria, that was convened at the request of the then Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz. According to a New York Times story on Woodward's book, the Wolfowitz meeting ultimately produced a report for President George W. Bush that supported the subsequent invasion of Iraq. Zakaria, however, later told The New York Times that he had thought "it was a brainstorming session" and did not recall being told that a report for the President would be produced.^[15] The New York Times later published a correction.^[16]

[edit] Criticism

In a cover story for Newsweek in the latter stages of the 2008 financial crisis, Zakaria argued that the U.S. economy was paying the price for decades of living beyond its means. However Eric Tyson, financial author, questioned Zakaria's lack of economic credentials as well as many of his points.^[17]

Wisconsin Citizen Action member Roger Bybee, in a piece entitled "Fareed Zakaria, Spokesperson for the Global Elite" for the Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting organization, writes that Zakaria's "fervent embrace of the perspectives of the powerful keeps him in a state of denial regarding fundamental realities of the global economy." ^[18]

Mr. Fasihuddin, President of Pakistan Society of Criminology has also criticized Fareed Zakaria in his article "Fareed Zakaria on Terrorism" published on the website of Pakistan Society of Criminology ^[19] In the article Fasihuddin alleges that Zakaria has not based his article on any creditable data and neither has he any knowledge of NWFP (North-West Frontier Province) and the adjoining tribal areas. He terms Zakaria and his associates as Scholars of the ivory towers of DC, NY, LA, PA or TX.

[edit] Personal

Zakaria is a naturalized citizen of the United States.^[20] He currently resides in New York City^[2] with his wife, Paula Throckmorton Zakaria, son Omar, and daughters Lila and Sofia. He identifies as a Muslim and has stated, somewhat ambiguously, that "I occasionally find myself reluctant to be pulled into a world that's not mine, in the sense that I'm not a religious guy."^[7]

[edit] Awards

Zakaria was conferred India Abroad Person of the Year 2008 award on March 20th, 2009 in New York. Filmmaker Mira Nair, who won the award for year 2007 honored her successor.

[edit] Bibliography

• The Post-American World, Fareed Zakaria, (W.W. Norton & Company; 2008) ISBN 0-393-06235-X
• The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad, Fareed Zakaria, (W.W. Norton & Company; 2003) ISBN 0-393-04764-4
• From Wealth to Power, Fareed Zakaria, (Princeton University Press; 1998) ISBN 0-691-04496-1
• The American Encounter: The United States and the Making of the Modern World Essays from 75 Years of Foreign Affairs, edited by James F. Hoge and Fareed Zakaria, (Basic Books; 1997) ISBN 0-465-00170-X

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• FareedZakaria.com Official site
• Fareed Zakaria Newsweek Articles
• Fareed Zakaria interview - KCTS9-TV PBS Seattle
• "The Interpreter". Village Voice profile. August 9, 2005.
• Andrew Mangino. "Trustee Zakaria '86 found his niche at Yale". Yale Daily News.
• Fareed Zakaria at the Internet Movie Database
• Q&A with Fareed Zakaria on five-year anniversary of 9/11 attacks. South Asian Journalists Association blog. September 10, 2006.
• Washington Post, PostGlobal Moderator
• "Sweet Justice". Zakaria says that German wines get a bad rap. Slate.
• Marion Maneker. "Man of the World". New York magazine profile.
• Coverage of his many appearances on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart". Sajaforum.org
• Review roundup of "The Post-American World" at SAJA Forum
• One-on-One with Thomas L. Friedman. Omnivoracious. September 7, 2008