The Aspen Institute

David Ignatius is, since 2003, the author of twice-weekly, globally distributed columns on global politics, economics, and international affairs. He is also an NBC news consultant. From 2000-2003, he was executive editor of the International Herald Tribune and from 1993-1999 assistant managing editor for business news at The Washington Post. From 1990-1992, he was foreign editor and from 1986-1990 editor of the Outlook section. From 1976-1985, he was a reporter for The Wall Street Journal serving as Middle East correspondent from 1980-1983 and chief diplomatic correspondent from 1984-1985. Mr. Ignatius has numerous publications in Foreign Affairs, The New York Times Magazine, Atlantic Monthly, and others. His coverage of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi won the 2018 George Polk Special Award and he was member of the finalist team for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. He is the author of eleven novels, including Body of Lies which was made into a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Ridley Scott. His ninth novel, The Director, was about hacking and espionage. A tenth novel, The Quantum Spy, about the race between America and China to build a quantum computer, was published in November 2017. His eleventh, The Paladin, about disinformation and “deepfakes,” was published in May 2020. Mr. Ignatius is a fellow of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center and has taught as an adjunct lecturer at HKS. He is married and the father of three daughters. He received his B.A. magna cum laude in Social Studies from Harvard College and an Economics diploma from King’s College, Cambridge University.