Roger Cohen
Encyclopedia
Roger Cohen is a British-born journalist and author. He is a columnist for The New York Times
and International Herald Tribune
. He has worked as a foreign correspondent in fifteen different countries.
, a doctor, emigrated from South Africa
to England in the 1950s. In the late 1960s, Roger studied at Westminster School
, one of Britain's top private schools. He won a scholarship and would have entered College, the scholar's house
, but was told a Jew could not attend College or hold his particular scholarship. Instead, he received a different scholarship.
In 1973, Cohen and his friends traveled throughout the Middle East
, including Iran
and Afghanistan
. He drove a Volkswagen Kombi named 'Pigpen' after the late keyboard playing frontman of the Grateful Dead
. He attended Balliol College, Oxford University. Cohen graduated with M.A. degrees in History and in French in 1977. He then left that year for Paris to teach English and to write for Paris Metro. He started working for Reuters
and the agency transferred him to Brussels
.
Cohen's mother, also from South Africa (b. 1929), attempted suicide in London in 1978 and died there in 1999. She was buried in Johannesburg
.
Cohen is married to the sculptor Frida Baranek
and has four children. The family lived in Brooklyn
, New York
until 2010, when he moved back to London, where he'd lived in 1980. Before leaving New York in 2010, he was given a farewell party in July by Richard Holbrooke
. He wrote a remembrance of Holbrooke five months later after the diplomat's unexpected death.
in Rome to cover the Italian economy. The Journal later transferred him to Beirut
. He joined The New York Times
in January 1990. In the summer of 1991, he co-authored with Claudio Gatti In the Eye of the Storm: The Life of General H. Norman Schwarzkopf. The authors wrote the books based on information from Norman Schwarzkopf's sister Sally, without Schwarzkopf's help.
Cohen worked for The New York Times as its European economic correspondent, based in Paris, from January 1992 to April 1994. He then became the paper's Balkan bureau chief, based in Zagreb
, from April 1994 to June 1995. He covered the Bosnian War
and the related Bosnian Genocide
. His exposé of a Serb-run Bosnian concentration camp won the Burger Human Rights Award from the Overseas Press Club of America
. At this time and afterward, questions arose about whether or not Cohen's pro-Bosnian Muslim/pro-Sarajevo
and anti-Bosnian Serb beliefs crossed the line, making him more of an advocate than an objective reporter.
He wrote a retrospective book about his Balkan experiences called Hearts Grown Brutal: Sagas of Sarajevo
in 1998. It won a Citation for Excellence from the Overseas Press Club
in 1999. Cohen wrote in Hearts Grown Brutal
that his coverage of the war changed him as a person, and that he considers himself lucky to still be alive. He later called this period the proudest achievement in his entire journalistic career.
He returned to the paper's Paris bureau from June 1995 to August 1998. He served as bureau chief of the Berlin bureau after September 1998. He took over as foreign editor of the paper's American office in the direct aftermath of the September 11 attacks. His unofficial role was made formal on March 14, 2002. In his tenure, he planned and then oversaw the paper's coverage of the War in Afghanistan. During his first visit to India as an editor, he entered the country without obtaining a visa
, having assumed that he would not need one. He was then stuck in diplomatic limbo for several hours. He has called this the most stupid thing he has ever done in his career.
In 2004, he began writing a column called 'Globalist', which is published twice a week in The International Herald Tribune. In 2005, he wrote his third book, Soldiers and Slaves: American POWs Trapped by the Nazis' Final Gamble, and he published it through Alfred A. Knopf
. In 2006, he became the first senior editor for The International Herald Tribune.
After columnist Nicholas D. Kristof
took a temporary leave in mid-2006, Cohen took over Kristof's
position. He has written columns for the Times since then. On April 28, 2009, Cohen wrote an open letter to Mondoweiss
, the blog created by Philip Weiss
, clarifying that "I've never had a permanent place in NYT paper. My deal is in IHT (paper) and online; in NYT online with same display as other columnists; and in NYT paper intermittently when schedules permit."
. He criticized the Bush administration's
handling of the occupation while still supporting the cause
given the brutality of Saddam Hussein
's regime. In January 2009, he commented that Saddam's "death-and-genocide machine killed about 400,000 Iraqis and another million or so people in Iran and Kuwait." He wrote that "I still believe Iraq’s freedom outweighs its terrible price."
He opposed the 2007 'surge' of troops into Iraq
. In June 2007, he advocated pulling out 105,000 soldiers. He argued, "Pulling out a lot of troops is the only way to increase pressure on Maliki to make the political compromises - on distribution of oil revenue, the constitution and de-Baathification - that will give Iraq some long-term chance of cohering."
In November 2008, Cohen stated that "gains are real but fragile" in Iraq. He criticized Democratic candidate Barack Obama
's calls for sixteen month withdrawal from the country, calling it irresponsible. Cohen wrote that "we’re going to have to play buffer against the dominant Shia for several years".
and encouraged negotiations between the United States and the Islamic Republic. He also remarked that Iranian Jews
were well treated, writing "of a a Jewish community living, working and worshiping in relative tranquility." He also described the hospitality that he received in Iran, stating that "I’m a Jew and have seldom been treated with such consistent warmth as in Iran." In his trip, he paid an Iranian agency $150 a day for the services of a translator, who filed a report on Cohen’s doings with the Iranian government.
His depiction of Jewish life in Iran sparked criticism from columnists and activists such as Jeffrey Goldberg
of The Atlantic Monthly
and Rafael Medoff
, director of the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies. In his Jerusalem Post op-ed
, Medoff criticized Cohen for being “misled by the existence of synagogues” and further argued that Iranian Jews "are captives of the regime, and whatever they say is carefully calibrated not to get themselves into trouble." The American Jewish Committee
also criticized Cohen's articles. Dr. Eran Lerman, director of the group's Middle East directory, argued that "Cohen’s need to argue away an unpleasant reality thus gives rise to systematic denial".
Roger Cohen responded on March 2, defending his observations and further elaborating that "Iran’s Islamic Republic is no Third Reich redux. Nor is it a totalitarian state." He also stated that "This is the Iran of subtle shades that the country’s Jews inhabit. Life is more difficult for them than for Muslims, but to suggest they inhabit a totalitarian hell is self-serving nonsense." He ended with a warning:
On March 12, Cohen accepted an invitation to meet with selected members of Los Angeles
's Iranian Jewish and Bahai community at Sinai Temple, after receiving some of their critical mail about his column. Cohen defended his views and analysis on Iran and Israel to a partly hostile audience. Rabbi David Wolpe
of the Sinai Temple criticized Cohen after the event, saying "Increasingly I came to believe that Iran was not Cohen's sole concern; he wanted it as a stick with which to beat Israel over Gaza, whose incursion he wrote left him ashamed."
In the aftermath of the June 2009 Iranian Presidential election
, Cohen has argued that the announced results in favor of President
Ahmadinejad over reformist Mir Hussein Moussavi were fabricated. He wrote that "President Obama’s outreach must now await a decent interval." He also commented, "I’ve also argued that, although repressive, the Islamic Republic offers significant margins of freedom by regional standards. I erred in underestimating the brutality and cynicism of a regime that understands the uses of ruthlessness."
. He called for the ending of Israeli settlement
construction in the West Bank
and the ending of the blockade of the Gaza Strip. He also supported the reconciling of Hamas
with Fatah
after their violent split
. As such, he criticized the Obama administration for its continuance of past United States policies towards Israel.
Cohen opposed Operation Cast Lead, labeling it "wretchedly named — and disastrous". He has accused Israelis of the "slaying of hundreds of Palestinian children" in the campaign. In a March 8 column, Cohen stated that he had "never previously felt so shamed by Israel’s actions."
"a dictator with a gentleman’s itch". He also stated that "the U.S. must stick with him and maintain aid for now", but it should press Musharraf
for more political reforms.
In September 2008, Cohen stated that only the Afghan people themselves can win the War in Afghanistan. He wrote:
. He received an Overseas Press Club
award for his coverage of third world debt in 1987, the Inter-American Press Association "Tom Wallace" Award for feature writing in 1989.
-owned Wall Street Journal, published a New York Times Op-Ed piece called "In Defense of Murdoch". The article lauds Murdoch's "loathing for elites, for cozy establishments and for cartels", and praised Murdoch's "no-holds-barred journalism". Cohen states that the enterprising Murdoch's have been "good for newspapers over the past several decades...and... good for free societies and a more open world". Notwithstanding these positives, in said Op-Ed Cohen still acknowledges that Fox News has "made a significant contribution to the polarization of American politics".
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
and International Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...
. He has worked as a foreign correspondent in fifteen different countries.
Biography
Roger Cohen was born in London to a Jewish family. His father, Sydney CohenSydney Cohen
Sydney Cohen CBE, FRS is Emeritus Professor of Chemical Pathology, Guy's Hospital Medical School and an authority on malaria.He was educated at King Edward VIIth School, Johannesburg and at Witwatersrand and London universities...
, a doctor, emigrated from South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
to England in the 1950s. In the late 1960s, Roger studied at Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
, one of Britain's top private schools. He won a scholarship and would have entered College, the scholar's house
House system
The house system is a traditional feature of British schools, and schools in the Commonwealth. Historically, it was associated with established public schools, where a 'house' refers to a boarding house or dormitory of a boarding school...
, but was told a Jew could not attend College or hold his particular scholarship. Instead, he received a different scholarship.
In 1973, Cohen and his friends traveled throughout the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, including Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. He drove a Volkswagen Kombi named 'Pigpen' after the late keyboard playing frontman of the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
. He attended Balliol College, Oxford University. Cohen graduated with M.A. degrees in History and in French in 1977. He then left that year for Paris to teach English and to write for Paris Metro. He started working for Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
and the agency transferred him to Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
.
Cohen's mother, also from South Africa (b. 1929), attempted suicide in London in 1978 and died there in 1999. She was buried in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
.
Cohen is married to the sculptor Frida Baranek
Frida Baranek
Frida Baranek is a Brazilian sculptor.She graduated from Universidade Santa Úrsula, with a Bachelors Degree in Architecture, and from Parsons School of Design with a master’s degree in 1985....
and has four children. The family lived in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
until 2010, when he moved back to London, where he'd lived in 1980. Before leaving New York in 2010, he was given a farewell party in July by Richard Holbrooke
Richard Holbrooke
Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke was an American diplomat, magazine editor, author, professor, Peace Corps official, and investment banker....
. He wrote a remembrance of Holbrooke five months later after the diplomat's unexpected death.
Journalism career
In 1983, Cohen joined The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
in Rome to cover the Italian economy. The Journal later transferred him to Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
. He joined The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
in January 1990. In the summer of 1991, he co-authored with Claudio Gatti In the Eye of the Storm: The Life of General H. Norman Schwarzkopf. The authors wrote the books based on information from Norman Schwarzkopf's sister Sally, without Schwarzkopf's help.
Cohen worked for The New York Times as its European economic correspondent, based in Paris, from January 1992 to April 1994. He then became the paper's Balkan bureau chief, based in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
, from April 1994 to June 1995. He covered the Bosnian War
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The war involved several sides...
and the related Bosnian Genocide
Bosnian Genocide
The term Bosnian Genocide refers to either the genocide committed by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica in 1995 or the ethnic cleansing campaign that took place throughout areas controlled by the Bosnian Serb Army during the 1992–1995 Bosnian War....
. His exposé of a Serb-run Bosnian concentration camp won the Burger Human Rights Award from the Overseas Press Club of America
Overseas Press Club
The Overseas Press Club of America was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member...
. At this time and afterward, questions arose about whether or not Cohen's pro-Bosnian Muslim/pro-Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
and anti-Bosnian Serb beliefs crossed the line, making him more of an advocate than an objective reporter.
He wrote a retrospective book about his Balkan experiences called Hearts Grown Brutal: Sagas of Sarajevo
Hearts Grown Brutal
Hearts Grown Brutal: Sagas of Sarajevo is a non-fiction book by New York Times reporter Roger Cohen chronicling his experiences covering the Bosnian War and the Bosnian Genocide. Random House published the book on August 25, 1998...
in 1998. It won a Citation for Excellence from the Overseas Press Club
Overseas Press Club
The Overseas Press Club of America was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member...
in 1999. Cohen wrote in Hearts Grown Brutal
Hearts Grown Brutal
Hearts Grown Brutal: Sagas of Sarajevo is a non-fiction book by New York Times reporter Roger Cohen chronicling his experiences covering the Bosnian War and the Bosnian Genocide. Random House published the book on August 25, 1998...
that his coverage of the war changed him as a person, and that he considers himself lucky to still be alive. He later called this period the proudest achievement in his entire journalistic career.
He returned to the paper's Paris bureau from June 1995 to August 1998. He served as bureau chief of the Berlin bureau after September 1998. He took over as foreign editor of the paper's American office in the direct aftermath of the September 11 attacks. His unofficial role was made formal on March 14, 2002. In his tenure, he planned and then oversaw the paper's coverage of the War in Afghanistan. During his first visit to India as an editor, he entered the country without obtaining a visa
Visa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
, having assumed that he would not need one. He was then stuck in diplomatic limbo for several hours. He has called this the most stupid thing he has ever done in his career.
In 2004, he began writing a column called 'Globalist', which is published twice a week in The International Herald Tribune. In 2005, he wrote his third book, Soldiers and Slaves: American POWs Trapped by the Nazis' Final Gamble, and he published it through Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. is a New York publishing house, founded by Alfred A. Knopf, Sr. in 1915. It was acquired by Random House in 1960 and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group at Random House. The publishing house is known for its borzoi trademark , which was designed by co-founder...
. In 2006, he became the first senior editor for The International Herald Tribune.
After columnist Nicholas D. Kristof
Nicholas D. Kristof
Nicholas Donabet Kristof is an American journalist, author, op-ed columnist, and a winner of two Pulitzer Prizes. He has written an op-ed column for The New York Times since November 2001 and is known for bringing to light human rights abuses in Asia and Africa, such as human trafficking and the...
took a temporary leave in mid-2006, Cohen took over Kristof's
Nicholas D. Kristof
Nicholas Donabet Kristof is an American journalist, author, op-ed columnist, and a winner of two Pulitzer Prizes. He has written an op-ed column for The New York Times since November 2001 and is known for bringing to light human rights abuses in Asia and Africa, such as human trafficking and the...
position. He has written columns for the Times since then. On April 28, 2009, Cohen wrote an open letter to Mondoweiss
Mondoweiss
Mondoweiss is a news website devoted to covering American foreign policy in the Middle East, chiefly from a progressive Jewish perspective. It was founded in 2006 by journalist and author Philip Weiss and is currently co-edited by Weiss and author/activist Adam Horowitz...
, the blog created by Philip Weiss
Philip Weiss
Philip Weiss is an American journalist who co-edits Mondoweiss, which he describes as a "news website devoted to covering American foreign policy in the Middle East, chiefly from a progressive Jewish perspective," with Adam Horowitz...
, clarifying that "I've never had a permanent place in NYT paper. My deal is in IHT (paper) and online; in NYT online with same display as other columnists; and in NYT paper intermittently when schedules permit."
Iraq
Cohen supported the American-led invasion of Iraq2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
. He criticized the Bush administration's
George W. Bush administration
The presidency of George W. Bush began on January 20, 2001, when he was inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States of America. The oldest son of former president George H. W. Bush, George W...
handling of the occupation while still supporting the cause
Rationale for the Iraq War
The rationale for the Iraq War has been a contentious issue since the Bush administration began actively pressing for military intervention in Iraq in late 2001. The primary rationalization for the Iraq War was articulated by a joint resolution of the U.S. Congress known as the Iraq Resolution.The...
given the brutality of Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
's regime. In January 2009, he commented that Saddam's "death-and-genocide machine killed about 400,000 Iraqis and another million or so people in Iran and Kuwait." He wrote that "I still believe Iraq’s freedom outweighs its terrible price."
He opposed the 2007 'surge' of troops into Iraq
Iraq War troop surge of 2007
In the context of the Iraq War, the surge refers to United States President George W. Bush's 2007 increase in the number of American troops in order to provide security to Baghdad and Al Anbar Province....
. In June 2007, he advocated pulling out 105,000 soldiers. He argued, "Pulling out a lot of troops is the only way to increase pressure on Maliki to make the political compromises - on distribution of oil revenue, the constitution and de-Baathification - that will give Iraq some long-term chance of cohering."
In November 2008, Cohen stated that "gains are real but fragile" in Iraq. He criticized Democratic candidate Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's calls for sixteen month withdrawal from the country, calling it irresponsible. Cohen wrote that "we’re going to have to play buffer against the dominant Shia for several years".
Iran
Cohen wrote a series of articles for The New York Times in February 2009 about a trip he conducted to Iran. In his writings he expressed opposition to military action against IranOpposition to military action against Iran
Organised opposition to a possible future military attack against Iran by the United States and/or Israel is known to have started during 2005-2006. Beginning in early 2005, journalists, activists and academics such as Seymour Hersh, Scott Ritter, Joseph Cirincione and Jorge E...
and encouraged negotiations between the United States and the Islamic Republic. He also remarked that Iranian Jews
Persian Jews
Persian Jews , are Jews historically associated with Iran, traditionally known as Persia in Western sources.Judaism is one of the oldest religions practiced in Iran. The Book of Esther contains some references to the experiences of Jews in Persia...
were well treated, writing "of a a Jewish community living, working and worshiping in relative tranquility." He also described the hospitality that he received in Iran, stating that "I’m a Jew and have seldom been treated with such consistent warmth as in Iran." In his trip, he paid an Iranian agency $150 a day for the services of a translator, who filed a report on Cohen’s doings with the Iranian government.
His depiction of Jewish life in Iran sparked criticism from columnists and activists such as Jeffrey Goldberg
Jeffrey Goldberg
Jeffrey Mark Goldberg is an American journalist. He is an author and a staff writer for The Atlantic, having previously worked for The New Yorker. Goldberg writes principally on foreign affairs, with a focus on the Middle East and Africa...
of The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic is an American magazine founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. It quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and publishing new writers and poets,...
and Rafael Medoff
Rafael Medoff
Rafael Medoff is founding director of The David Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, which is based in Washington, D.C. and focuses on issues related to America's response to the Holocaust.-Academic career:...
, director of the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies. In his Jerusalem Post op-ed
Op-ed
An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...
, Medoff criticized Cohen for being “misled by the existence of synagogues” and further argued that Iranian Jews "are captives of the regime, and whatever they say is carefully calibrated not to get themselves into trouble." The American Jewish Committee
American Jewish Committee
The American Jewish Committee was "founded in 1906 with the aim of rallying all sections of American Jewry to defend the rights of Jews all over the world...
also criticized Cohen's articles. Dr. Eran Lerman, director of the group's Middle East directory, argued that "Cohen’s need to argue away an unpleasant reality thus gives rise to systematic denial".
Roger Cohen responded on March 2, defending his observations and further elaborating that "Iran’s Islamic Republic is no Third Reich redux. Nor is it a totalitarian state." He also stated that "This is the Iran of subtle shades that the country’s Jews inhabit. Life is more difficult for them than for Muslims, but to suggest they inhabit a totalitarian hell is self-serving nonsense." He ended with a warning:
- "I return to this subject because behind the Jewish issue in Iran lies a critical one — the U.S. propensity to fixate on and demonize a country through a one-dimensional lens, with a sometimes disastrous chain of results."
On March 12, Cohen accepted an invitation to meet with selected members of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
's Iranian Jewish and Bahai community at Sinai Temple, after receiving some of their critical mail about his column. Cohen defended his views and analysis on Iran and Israel to a partly hostile audience. Rabbi David Wolpe
David Wolpe
David J. Wolpe is an author, public speaker and rabbi of Sinai Temple . Named the "#1 Pulpit Rabbi in America" by Newsweek magazine , he is considered a leader of the Conservative Jewish movement. Wolpe was named one of The Forward's Forward 50, and one of the hundred most influential people in...
of the Sinai Temple criticized Cohen after the event, saying "Increasingly I came to believe that Iran was not Cohen's sole concern; he wanted it as a stick with which to beat Israel over Gaza, whose incursion he wrote left him ashamed."
In the aftermath of the June 2009 Iranian Presidential election
Iranian presidential election, 2009
Iran's tenth presidential election was held on 12 June 2009, with incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad running against three challengers. The next morning the Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran's official news agency, announced that with two-thirds of the votes counted, Ahmadinejad had won the election...
, Cohen has argued that the announced results in favor of President
President of Iran
The President of Iran is the highest popularly elected official in, and the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Iran; although subordinate to the Supreme Leader of Iran, who functions as the country's head of state...
Ahmadinejad over reformist Mir Hussein Moussavi were fabricated. He wrote that "President Obama’s outreach must now await a decent interval." He also commented, "I’ve also argued that, although repressive, the Islamic Republic offers significant margins of freedom by regional standards. I erred in underestimating the brutality and cynicism of a regime that understands the uses of ruthlessness."
Israel
Cohen wrote in January 2009 that the Israel-Palestinian conflict should not be seen by the United States as just another part of the War on TerrorismWar on Terrorism
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
. He called for the ending of Israeli settlement
Israeli settlement
An Israeli settlement is a Jewish civilian community built on land that was captured by Israel from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered occupied territory by the international community. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank...
construction in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
and the ending of the blockade of the Gaza Strip. He also supported the reconciling of Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
with Fatah
Fatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
after their violent split
Fatah–Hamas conflict
The Fatah–Hamas conflict , also referred to as the Palestinian Civil War , and the Conflict of Brothers , i.e...
. As such, he criticized the Obama administration for its continuance of past United States policies towards Israel.
Cohen opposed Operation Cast Lead, labeling it "wretchedly named — and disastrous". He has accused Israelis of the "slaying of hundreds of Palestinian children" in the campaign. In a March 8 column, Cohen stated that he had "never previously felt so shamed by Israel’s actions."
Pakistan / Afghanistan
On November 8, 2007, Cohen described the then $10 billion given to the Pakistani government and $22 billion given to the Afghan government as "self-defeating". He called Pakistani leader Pervez MusharrafPervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...
"a dictator with a gentleman’s itch". He also stated that "the U.S. must stick with him and maintain aid for now", but it should press Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...
for more political reforms.
In September 2008, Cohen stated that only the Afghan people themselves can win the War in Afghanistan. He wrote:
Awards
Cohen has won numerous awards and honors, among them the Peter Weitz Prize for Dispatches from Europe, the Arthur F. Burns Prize, and the Joe Alex Morris lectureship at Harvard UniversityHarvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. He received an Overseas Press Club
Overseas Press Club
The Overseas Press Club of America was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member...
award for his coverage of third world debt in 1987, the Inter-American Press Association "Tom Wallace" Award for feature writing in 1989.
Rupert Murdoch
On July 12, 2011, shortly after the News of the World scandal broke, Cohen, who once wrote for the Rupert MurdochRupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
-owned Wall Street Journal, published a New York Times Op-Ed piece called "In Defense of Murdoch". The article lauds Murdoch's "loathing for elites, for cozy establishments and for cartels", and praised Murdoch's "no-holds-barred journalism". Cohen states that the enterprising Murdoch's have been "good for newspapers over the past several decades...and... good for free societies and a more open world". Notwithstanding these positives, in said Op-Ed Cohen still acknowledges that Fox News has "made a significant contribution to the polarization of American politics".
Quotes
Cohen says that "journalism is a young person's game." "When the phone goes in the middle of the night and you're 25 and you're asked to go to Beirut, it's the greatest thing. But when that happens at 50, less so."Published works
- Hearts Grown Brutal: Sagas of Sarajevo. New York: Random House, 1998. ISBN 0679452435 ISBN 978-0679452430
- Soldiers and Slaves: American POWs Trapped by the Nazis' Final Gamble. New York: Knopf, 2005. ISBN 037541410X ISBN 978-0375414107
- (With Claudio Gatti) In the Eye of the Storm: The Life of General H. Norman Schwarzkopf. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1991. ISBN 9780374177089