Fareed Zakaria facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Fareed Zakaria
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Zakaria in 2012
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| Born |
Fareed Rafiq Zakaria
January 20, 1964 Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
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| Education | Yale University (BA) Harvard University (MA, PhD) |
| Occupation |
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| Employer | CNN |
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Notable credit(s)
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Fareed Zakaria GPS, host (2008–present) Time, contributing editor (2010–2014) Newsweek International, editor (2000–2010) Foreign Exchange, host (2005–2007) Foreign Affairs, former managing editor |
| Spouse(s) |
Paula Throckmorton
(m. 1997; div. 2018) |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | Rafiq Zakaria (father) Fatima Zakaria (mother) |
| Relatives | Arif Zakaria (cousin) Asif Zakaria (cousin) |
| Awards | Padma Bhushan (2010) |
Fareed Rafiq Zakaria (born January 20, 1964) is an American journalist, writer, and political commentator. He was born in India. He is well-known for hosting Fareed Zakaria GPS on CNN. He also writes a weekly column for The Washington Post. Before this, he worked as a columnist for Newsweek and was an editor for Time magazine.
Contents
Early Life and Schooling
Fareed Zakaria was born in Mumbai, India. His family was Konkani Muslim. His father, Rafiq Zakaria, was a politician and a scholar. His mother, Fatima Zakaria, was an editor for the Sunday Times of India.
Zakaria went to the Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai. He then moved to the United States for college. In 1986, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University. While at Yale, he was very active. He was the president of the Yale Political Union and the editor-in-chief of the Yale Political Monthly. Later, he earned a PhD in government from Harvard University in 1993.
Career in Journalism
After finishing his studies, Zakaria started his career in journalism. In 1992, at age 28, he became the managing editor of Foreign Affairs magazine. He helped redesign the magazine to be published more often. He also taught about international relations at Columbia University.
In 2000, he became the editor of Newsweek International. He also started writing a weekly column for Newsweek. Later, in 2010, he moved to Time magazine as an editor and columnist. Today, he writes a weekly column for The Washington Post.
Zakaria has written for many other famous publications. These include The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The New Yorker.
Books Written by Zakaria
Fareed Zakaria is also a successful author. He has written several books that explore important global topics. His books include:
- From Wealth to Power: The Unusual Origins of America's World Role (1998)
- The Future of Freedom (2003)
- The Post-American World (2008)
- In Defense of a Liberal Education (2015)
His last three books became New York Times bestsellers. The Future of Freedom and The Post-American World have been translated into more than 25 languages.
Television Work
Zakaria has a strong presence on television. From 2002 to 2007, he was a news analyst for ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos. He also hosted a weekly TV show called Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria on PBS from 2005 to 2008.
His most famous show, Fareed Zakaria GPS (Global Public Square), started on CNN in June 2008. This show discusses foreign affairs and global issues. It airs multiple times a week and reaches millions of homes worldwide. In 2013, he also became a producer for the HBO series Vice.
Political Views and Opinions
Fareed Zakaria describes himself as a "centrist". This means he tries to find a middle ground in politics. People have described him in different ways, like a liberal or a conservative. He believes his job is to explain what is happening in the world, rather than picking sides.
Many people respect Zakaria's ideas. David Shribman from The Boston Globe said he has great intellectual range. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger praised his mind and his ability to offer new ideas.
Zakaria's book The Future of Freedom talks about "liberal democracy". He explains that true democracy needs both elections and the protection of individual freedoms. His book The Post-American World discusses the rise of countries like China, India, and Brazil. He believes their economic growth is a very important global trend.
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After the 9/11 attacks, Zakaria wrote about Islamic extremism. He argued that the problem came from problems within Arab societies, not just from Islam itself or American foreign policy. He called for efforts to help Arab countries become more open and modern.
He initially supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq. However, he soon became a critic of how the war was managed. He believed the US should have used a much larger force and criticized decisions made during the occupation. He later wrote that while the military part of the war succeeded, it did not lead to political unity in Iraq.
In 2017, Zakaria supported a U.S. missile strike in Syria. He praised President Trump's decision at the time.
Awards and Recognition
Fareed Zakaria has received many awards for his work. He has been nominated five times for the National Magazine Award and won it once. His show, Fareed Zakaria GPS, has won a Peabody Award and been nominated for several Emmys.
In 2009, he received the India Abroad Person of the Year award. In January 2010, the Indian government gave him the Padma Bhushan award. This is one of India's highest civilian honors, given for his contributions to journalism.
He has also received honorary degrees from many universities. These include Harvard University, Brown University, and Duke University. In 2020, he received the Founders Award for Excellence in Journalism from the International Center for Journalists.
Personal Life
Fareed Zakaria is a naturalized citizen of the United States. He married Paula Throckmorton, a jewelry designer, in 1997. They have three children. In 2018, they filed for divorce.
He lives in New York City. He enjoys cooking and credits famous chefs like Jacques Pépin and Julia Child for his interest in food. Zakaria describes himself as a secular and non-practicing Muslim. He has said his views on faith are "somewhere between deism and agnosticism". His children were not raised as Muslims.
See also
In Spanish: Fareed Zakaria para niños
- Indians in the New York City metropolitan region
- List of Yale University people
- List of Harvard University people
- New Yorkers in journalism
