Robin Wright is an internationally renowned journalist and political analyst. She has reported from over 140 countries in the world, has written several books about the Middle East, and her work appears in some of the most trusted publications in the United States. In addition to receiving numerous awards for her courage and skill as a reporter, she has held fellowships at Yale, Duke, and Stanford universities, as well as the Brookings Institute, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the U.S. Institute of Peace.
As the leading expert on foreign affairs in the Middle East, Wright’s work is distinguished by its deft ability to talk about broad trends and paradigmatic shifts seen in the wake of modernity, specifically across the two dozen Middle Eastern countries from which she reports. She manages to do this without putting the full weight of responsibility on any one nation, group, or individual. As she writes in Dreams and Shadows “The Middle East is not really one place, so change will have many faces. The region today is arguably more stereotyped than any other part of the world.”
Rising from the tradition of Edward Said, Wright’s works challenge orientalist narratives about the Middle East. Her books paint rich, nuanced profiles of Arab countries and citizens who have the audacity to push for liberation and peace. She also shares candid portraits of the human capacity for cruelty and violence. As she weaves together a complex tapestry of the human experience in the Middle East and the West’s engagement with it, she works to broaden narrow views of “the other.” She delivers to the Western imagination a story of the quest for change, innovation, and the desire of many in the Arab world to honor human rights for all through the traditions of Western democracy. But her narratives are not rose-colored by idealism; rather, she confidently shines a light on the widespread corruption of the democratic process by leaders both abroad and at home to create a balanced and textured story of humanity.
As international tensions reach an alarming pitch, Wright’s work continues to bring into focus the forces that move cultures and revolutions. In doing so, she reminds the Western reader that we cannot see the Arab world, or any other area of the world and the people who inhabit it, as monolith and must question any claim to a pan-Arab experience. She also reminds us of the beauty and power of the Islamic faith by sharing the truths of the anti-jihadists: people who see the faith as path to personal enlightenment as well as a call to peace.
In a time of “America First” discourse and the decline of the United States’ government’s reputation abroad, Wright’s sustained contribution as an informed, readable, and deeply thoughtful reporter and analyst is more valuable than ever. With each publication, she brings her readers closer to her call to really understand the US relationship with the incredibly complex and diverse Middle East. By locating real people in their political, historical, and cultural contexts, Wright documents the work of change-makers in the region, and inspires a change in the way the West perceives and interacts with the region.