Fareed Zakaria
Born 20 January 1964 · Maharashtra
Hosting CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS, a globally recognized international affairs program.
🔔 Add birthday reminderFareed Rafiq Zakaria is an Indian-born American journalist, political commentator, and author. He is the host of CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS and writes a weekly paid column for The Washington Post. He has been a columnist for Newsweek, editor of Newsweek International, and an editor at large of Time.
✨ A detail that surprised us
Fareed Zakaria once wrote wine columns under the pseudonym George Saintsbury for Slate, blending literary history with oenology.
1. In 1992, at just 28 years old, Fareed Zakaria became managing editor of Foreign Affairs, shifting the magazine’s frequency from quarterly to bimonthly and shaping foreign policy discourse.
2. 🌍 Born in Mumbai in 1964 to Rafiq Zakaria, a Congress politician and Islamic scholar, Fareed’s upbringing in a Konkani family immersed him early in India’s political and cultural complexities.
3. At Yale University, where he graduated in 1986, Fareed led the Yale Political Union and fought against divestment from Apartheid South Africa, signaling his early engagement with global justice issues.
4. 📰 From 2000 to 2010, Zakaria edited Newsweek International, during which his October 2001 cover story "Why They Hate Us" earned the National Magazine Award and sparked intense debate post-9/11.
5. Zakaria’s 2008 book, "The Post-American World," analyzed the rise of non-Western powers, becoming a New York Times bestseller and translated into over 25 languages, reshaping conversations on global power shifts.
6. 🖥 Since 2008, he has hosted CNN’s "Fareed Zakaria GPS," interviewing world leaders like Narendra Modi and Barack Obama, with the show winning a Peabody Award in 2011.
7. In 2010, India awarded him the Padma Bhushan, recognizing his influence on international affairs despite his American citizenship, highlighting his transnational identity.
8. ❓ How does Zakaria’s Indian-Muslim heritage and elite Western education inform his perspective on global power and democracy in an increasingly multipolar world?
Awards & Honours
- 🏅🏅 Peabody Award
🔍 One thing most people don't know
In 2001, Zakaria’s Newsweek cover story "Why They Hate Us" won the National Magazine Award and became one of the most decorated journalistic pieces addressing post-9/11 sentiments.
🖼️ Through the Years
📅 The Journey
🗝️ Discoveries
"The Post-American world is not the end of America’s influence, but the rise of others alongside it."
— Fareed Zakaria
🎥 Speeches & Recordings
Fareed Zakaria on How America is Doing at 250 Years Old | A Charlie Rose Global Conversation
YouTube📖 Curated Sources
🌱 What changed because of them
Fareed Zakaria transformed public understanding of global power dynamics by popularizing complex international relations through accessible media like CNN’s GPS and bestselling books. His editorial leadership at Foreign Affairs and Newsweek International influenced policymakers and intellectuals worldwide, while his writings on 'illiberal democracy' and the 'post-American world' shaped debates on democracy and geopolitical shifts in the 21st century. His role bridged Indian intellectual traditions with American media, fostering cross-cultural dialogue on global affairs.
💬 Social Buzz
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