Printable Biography of David Ignatius

He has written widely for magazines and published five novels.

His twice-weekly column on global politics, economics, and international affairs debuted on The Washington Post op-ed page in January 1999 and was distributed to more than 6000 newspapers worldwide via the Los Angeles Times/Washington Post News Service. He continued to write weekly after becoming executive editor of the Paris-based International Herald Tribune (IHT) in September 2000. When the Post sold its interest in the International Herald Tribune in January 2003, Ignatius resumed writing twice a week for the op-ed page and was syndicated worldwide by The Washington Post Writers Group. His column won the 2000 Gerald Loeb Award for Commentary and a 2004 Edward Weintal Prize.

In addition to writing his column, Ignatius is co-moderator, with Fareed Zakaria of Newsweek, of PostGlobal, a new experiment in online global journalism. PostGlobal links more than 50 of the top journalists and commentators around the world in a continuous online discussion of important issues.

Mr. Ignatius can provide an audience with unique perspectives in global issues including diplomacy, policy, and economics. In addition he can focus closer to home with his extensive knowledge of the Washington scene, the current state of journalism, and the relationship between the media and business. His direct and engaging use of language has the ability to connect with audiences without the need for visuals and in way that is informative and intriguing.

As executive editor of the International Herald Tribune, Ignatius traveled the world and met with leaders of countries across Europe and Asia. During his journalism career, he has covered almost every Washington beat, from the Pentagon to the CIA to Capitol Hill. His reporting and his commentary draw on his network of resources to uncover and break news.

Prior to becoming a columnist, Ignatius was the Post's assistant managing editor in charge of business news, a position he assumed in 1993. During his tenure, the paper significantly expanded its business coverage, and the Post was cited as one of the "Best in Business" among large newspapers by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers in 1995 and 1996.    

Ignatius served as the Post's foreign editor from 1990 to 1992, supervising the paper's Pulitzer Price-winning coverage of the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait. From 1986 to 1990, he was editor of the Post's Outlook section, a Sunday option section that covers politics, economics, foreign policy, and intellectuals trends.

Before joining The Washington Post in 1986, Ignatius spent ten years as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal. He covered the steel industry in Pittsburgh, them moved to Washington to cover the Justice Department, the CIA, and the U.S. Senate. He transferred overseas to become the paper's Middle East correspondent from 1980 to 1983, covering wars in Lebanon and Iraq. He returned to Washington in 1984 as The Wall Street Journal's chief diplomatic correspondent and he received the Edward Weintal Prize for Diplomatic Reporting in 1985. Before joining The Wall Street Journal, he was an editor at The Washington Monthly.

Raised in Washington, D.C., Ignatius attended St. Albans School and Harvard College, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1973. He received a Frank Knox Fellowship from Harvard and studied at King's College, Cambridge University, where he received a diploma in economics.  He has published articles in Foreign Affairs, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, The New Republic, Talk Magazine, and The Washington Monthly.

He has written six novels: Agents of Innocence, published in 1987 by W.W. Norton; SIRO, published in 1991 by Farrar Strauss & Giroux; The Bank of Fear, published in 1994 by William Morrow; A Firing Offense, published in 1997 by Random House; The Sun King, published in 1999 by Random House; and Body of Lies which will be published in April 2007 by W.W. Norton. His books have been translated into a dozen languages. Tom Cruise and Paramount Productions bought the rights to his fourth novel, A Firing Offense, and the director Ridley Scott and Warner Bros. have optioned his newest book, Body of Lies.