Fareed Zakaria Biography
Fareed Rafiq Zakaria is an Indian-born American journalist , political commentator and author currently working as a host for CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS. His weekly show, Fareed Zakaria GPS (Global Public Square), premiered on CNN in June 2008. He also writes a weekly paid column for the Washington post. And has been a columnist for Newsweek, editor of Newsweek International and editor of Time.
Fareed Zakaria Career
In 1992, Zakaria became the managing editor of Foreign Affairs magazine at 28 years, after directing a research project on American foreign policy at Harvard. The magazine was redesigned to be published once every two months instead of quarterly under his guidance. In addition, he worked as an adjunct professor at Columbia University and taught a seminar on international relations. In October 2000, Zakaria became editor of Newsweek International and also became a weekly columnist for Newsweek. In August 2010, he joined Time to serve as editor at-large and columnist. Zakaria further writes a weekly paid column for The Washington Post. He is a contributing editor for the Atlantic Media group, which includes The Atlantic Monthly.
Moreover, he has published on a variety of subjects for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Zakaria has also published for The New Yorker and The New Republic. Additionally, for a brief period Zakaria was a wine columnist for the web magazine Slate with the pseudonym of George Saintsbury, after the English writer.
In addition, he is the author of among others From Wealth to Power: The Unusual Origins of America’s World Role in Princeton, 1998 and The Future of Freedom in Norton, 2003. Zakaria also authored The Post-American World in 2008 and In Defense of a Liberal Education in Norton, 2015. Zakaria also co-edited The American Encounter: The United States and the Making of the Modern World (Basic Books) with James F. Hoge Jr. Furthermore, his last three books were New York Times bestsellers and The Future of Freedom and The Post American World have both been translated into more than twenty five languages. In 2011 an updated and expanded edition of The Post-American World (“Release 2.0”) was published.
Fareed Zakaria CNN
Zakaria also worked as a news analyst with ABC’s This week with George Stephanopoulos between 2002-2007 and was a member of the Sunday morning roundtable. Additionally, he hosted the weekly TV news show, Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria on PBS between 2005-2008. His weekly show, Fareed Zakaria GPS (Global Public Square), premiered on CNN in June 2008. The show airs twice weekly in the United States and four times weekly on CNN International, reaching over 200 million homes. It celebrated its 10th anniversary on 5 June 2018, as announced on the weekly foreign affairs show on CNN.
In 2013, Zakaria became one of the producers for the HBO series Vice and serves as a consultant. He is a member of the Berggruen Institute and features as an interlocutor for the annual Berggruen Prize.
Furthermore, Zakaria has been nominated five times for the National Magazine Award and won it once, for his columns and commentary. In addition, his show at CNN has won a Peabody Award and been nominated for several Emmys. He was conferred India Abroad Person of the Year 2008 award on March 20, 2009, in New York. Filmmaker Mira Nair, who won the award for year 2007, honored her successor Zakaria.
Fareed Zakaria Awards
Additionally, Zakaria has received honorary degrees from several universities such as Harvard University, Brown University, Duke University, John Hopkins University, the University of Miami, Oberlin College, Bates College and University of Oklahoma among others. He was the 2000 Annual Orator of the Philomathean Society of the University of Pennsylvania.
Zakaria has served on various boards including the Council on Foreign Relations and Columbia University’s International House. He has also served on the Board of City College of New York’s Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership. He was also a trustee of Yale Corporation, the governing body of Yale University and the Trilateral Commission.
In January 2010, Zakaria became a recipient of the Padma Bhushan award by the Indian government for his contribution to the field of journalism. He won the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) Founders Award for Excellence in Journalism.
He was born and raised in Mumbai, India and is a naturalized citizen of the United States. Zakaria attended the Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai, India. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Yale University in 1986. In 1993, Zakaria gained a PHD in Government from Harvard University. Zakaria tied the knot with his wife, Paula Throckmorton a jewelry designer in 1997 and Paula filed for divorce in July 2018. They are parents to three children. He lives in the Upper West Side of New York City.
Fareed Zakaria Age
Zakaria was born in Mumbai, India on 20 January, 1964 and is now 61 years old as of 2025.
Fareed Zakaria Height
He stands at an average height of 5 feet 6 inches (1.68m) tall.
Fareed Zakaria Education
Zakaria attended the Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai, India. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Yale University in 1986. At Yale, Zakaria was the president of the Yale Political Union, editor in chief of the Yale Political Monthly, a member of the Scroll and Key society and a member of the party of the Right. He also opposed anti-apartheid divestment as a student at Yale University in the mid 1980’s and argued that the University should not divest from its holdings in South Africa. In 1993, Zakaria gained a PHD in Government from Harvard University.
Fareed Zakaria Family
He was born and raised in Mumbai, India until when he joined Yale University. Zakaria was born in a Konkani Muslim family and his father, Rafiq Zakaria died in 2005. He was a politician in association with the Indian National Congress and a scholar of Islam. His mother, Fatima Zakaria died in 2021, was his father’s second wife and for a time the editor of the Sunday Times of India. She died during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has two siblings, Tasneem Zakaria Mehta and Arshad Zakaria.
Fareed Zakaria Wife
Zakaria tied the knot with his wife, Paula Throckmorton a jewelry designer in 1997 and Paula filed for divorce in July 2018.
Fareed Zakaria Children
He is father of three children, Lila, Sofia and Omar Zakaria.
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