Ian Black



Profile:


Full name: Ian Black

Area of interest: Foreign affairs (esp. Middle East, Israel, the Lockerbie case; Security and intelligence

Journals: The Guardian

Email: [mailto:ian.black@guardian.co.uk ian.black@guardian.co.uk]

Website: Guardian.co / Ian Black

Blog: Comment is free...

Agent:

Networks:



Biography:
Education: Cambridge University: MA History; London School of Economics: PhD Politics

Career: Freelance, in Jerusalem: 1978/1980; The Guardian, sub editor, 1980/1981; home news reporter, 1981/1984; Middle East correspondent, 1984/1993; Israel correspondent, 1988/1993; diplomatic editor: 1993/2000; European editor, in Brussels, 2000/2000

Current position/role: Middle East Editor


 * also writes/has written for:

The Sunday Times, The Observer, New Statesman, Prospect, Irish Times, the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, Middle East International Other roles:

Other activities:

Disclosures:

Viewpoints/Insight:

TV/Radio: Regular commentator on international and diplomatic affairs for the BBC World Service radio and television, BBC Arabic Service, BBC Radio 4, NBC, CBC, NPR, etc

Controversy/Criticism:

Awards/Honours: Guardian Middle East editor wins peace through media award, 2010 International Media Awards
 * British Press Awards: International Reporter of the Year (Commended), 1988
 * Laurence Stern Fellowship Award, 1983

Other:



Books & Debate:

 * Israel's secret wars : a history of Israel's intelligence services OCLC 22542367, 1991

Latest work:

Speaking/Appearances:

Current debate: 

The Guardian:

 * no column - Comment is free... blog, on the Middle East reports, and occasional comment pieces

Column remit:

Section:

Role: Middle East editor

Pen-name:

Email: [mailto:ian.black@guardian.co.uk ian.black@guardian.co.uk]

Website: Guardian.co / Ian Black

Commissioning editor:

Day published:

Regularity:

Column format:

Average length:



Articles:

 * army is the power behind the throne. And Mubarak knows it'' - Egyptian president need only remember 1952 to see what happens when the armed forces turn on those in power - 4th February 2011 (Egypt: summary)
 * unrest a wake-up call for the region'' - Bloody street clashes in Tunis trigger fears of a domino effect that could shake other authoritarian states - 15th January 2011 (Tunisia: summary)
 * is yet to play its cards'' - President Bashar al-Assad may not be the moderniser the west had hoped for, but his regime shows signs of progress - 15th July 2010
 * are Syria's real friends?'' - As its relations with Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran blossom, is Syria still keen for a rapprochement with the west? - 22nd October 2009
 * threatened with international law'' - Israel's commanders should be careful about booking holidays – the Goldstone report suggests they could be prosecuted abroad - 16th September 2009
 * evictions upset even its friends'' - Broad condemnation of the eviction of Palestinians in east Jerusalem reflects growing international anger over settlements - 5th August 2009
 * floods Iran's moment'' - The next hours and days will determine whether Tehran rallies that followed disputed elections mark a historic turning point - 17th June 2009 (See: Iran: summary)
 * has exposed the Arab leaders to fury and contempt'' - Internal rivalries over a deal with Israel have attracted opprobrium and put the very future of peace at risk - 20th January 2009
 * Miliband's road to Damascus - Relations between Syria and Britain are getting warmer, but the foreign office is keen to point out that it's not being naive - 17th November 2008
 * 265 shops and 50 restaurants, an impossible city is reborn'' - The opening of a new retail empire in London is sublime timing for students of paradox - 18th October 2008
 * wisdom'' - Ehud Olmert's valedictory Jewish New Year message is a bald, if belated, re-statement of how to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict - 30th September 2008
 * The MDC leader has survived jail, beatings and attempts on his life - Morgan Tsvangirai is often described as a brave and charismatic man, qualities that have stood him in good stead as he has suffered beatings and assassination attempts while battling to unseat Robert Mugabe - 23rd June 2008
 * Dividends of truce - If this delicate Hamas-Israel ceasefire holds, the gains could spread far beyond Gaza - 19th June 2008
 * Don't hold your breath - The Hamas ceasefire is a positive sign, but even if it sticks, there are plenty of questions still left to answer - 18 June 2008
 * Gaza won't go away - On any clear-eyed, practical view the continuing blockade can only contribute to more suffering, desperation and hatred - 13th May 2008
 * Disunity in Damascus - As good old Muammar Gadafy pointed out, the Arab summit in Damascus laid bare crippling divisions over Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq - 31st March 2008
 * Tunisia - an uncriticised success - The press is heavily controlled and its elections are little more than a facade, but Tunisia continues to be held up by the west as a model Arab state, writes Ian Black - 8th November 2007
 * Sunni side up - Bahrain's rulers fear a US attack on Iran could inflame tensions with the country's restive Shia majority - 2nd November 2007
 * Israel's declaration of Gaza as an 'enemy entity' ratchets up the rhetoric, just as - by grim irony - Hamas seemed willing to call a ceasefire - 19th September 2007
 * The small print of Middle East peace - Today's visit to Jerusalem by two Arab foreign ministers is a timely reminder that there is a way to move towards peace in the region - 25th July 2007
 * Uncharted Territory - Neither hamas nor Fatah can see a quick or easy way out of this new impasse - 15th Junne 2007
 * An obituary of hope - Alvaro de Soto's report makes a depressing read, but should be scrutinised carefully by anyone involved in the Middle East peace process - 13th June 2007
 * Mission unusual - Syria and Israel should overcome their mutual suspicions and return to the negotiating table - 12th June 2007
 * Gulfs of misunderstanding - The debate about Arab democracy is distorted by confusion about Islamism and anger over the war in Iraq - 27th April 2007
 * An end to isolation - Javier Solana's visit to Syria - Javier Solana's visit to Syria is a welcome sign that the EU is at last willing to do business again with a key player in the Arab-Israeli conflict - 15th March 2007
 * Enemies at the borders - wider instability in the Middle East - An explosion in the south-eastern Iranian city of Zahedan should give pause for thought about wider instability in the Middle East - 14th February 2007
 * Keeping the peace - King Abdullah's role as mediator - Mounting crisis in the Middle East has galvanised King Abdullah into action to force talks between rival Palestinian leaders - 7th February 2007
 * Distorted by the terror prism - the US attack on Somalia - The US attack on Somalia was driven by the search for al-Qaida operatives and showed no regard for for Somalia's domestic complexities - 9th January 2007
 * Geoff Hoon's Ugandan affair - Margaret Beckett's control freakery conveys pettiness, not passion - 1st November 2006
 * Germany is right to take on a global role - Over 60 years since the end of the Nazi dictatorship, Germany is putting the past behind it to formulate a sharper sense of its international committments - 25th October 2006
 * Eden's shadow over Blair - A BBC documentary on the Suez crisis revealed a prime minister running out of control in a story not dissimilar to that of today's government - 24th October 2006
 * Strength through unity? - by agreeing to share power, Hamas and the PLO have displayed a welcome pragmatism. It would be good if Israeli leaders could do the same - 11th September 2006
 * For Israel, the shooting goes on but so does the weeping - The dovish minority understand that their state's survival depends on finding peace across the Middle East - 1st August 2006



Links:

 * The Annapolis peace conference Interactive report