Neil MacFarquhar

Neil MacFarquhar is a reporter for The New York Times with extensive experience covering topics from war to politics to the arts both internationally and in the United States. He has reported from Russia and across the Middle East extensively, interspersed with wide-ranging assignments in the United States. His goal has always been to convey life in different parts of the world - not just key political and economic issues, but matters like what people eat or what makes them laugh. He began covering the Ukraine war when it erupted in February 2022, following five years spent on assignment in Moscow from 2014-2019. He was part of the team awarded the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in international reporting for a series detailing the Kremlin's covert methods of exerting influence globally. Before coming to The Times, he worked for seven years in the Middle East for The Associated Press, including stints as the news editor in Jerusalem and setting up an office in Kuwait after the 1991 Gulf War. He has written two books, a satirical novel about the international press corps during war and another about how the Arab world is changing. He speaks French and Arabic, while his Russian is always a work in progress. All Times journalists are committed to upholding the standards of integrity outlined in their Ethical Journalism Handbook. Every story should be accurate and fair. His reporting is not rooted in any personal agenda; he lets the people and the voices he encounters shape where the story goes.