Sam is one of the world’s leading war correspondents. He’s reported on dozens of conflicts over more than 30 years from Rwanda’s genocide to Somalia’s famine, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, and Ukraine. He has surprising, and often controversial, insights into how conflicts begin, why they are often so difficult to end, and the dangers of humanitarian intervention.
Sam Kiley is a multiple-award winning writer and broadcaster, known for his reporting on the causes and consequences of war around the world. Over 30 years he’s reported from Somalia’s famine and civil war, the Rwandan genocide, Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, the Palestinian Territories. Most recently, he has spent the bulk of the last two years in Ukraine, covering the war with Russia.
Educated at Oxford University, where he also trained in mime, Sam brings fresh insights to modern history in directing how conflicts and wars begin. Many (perhaps most) start because many leaders are plain stupid no matter what intelligence they get. He’s been Senior International Correspondent at CNN; Foreign Affairs, and earlier Defence and Security Editor, at Sky News; Africa Correspondent and Middle East Bureau Chief of The Times. He made over 30 documentaries for Channel 4 in the UK and PBS Frontline in the US. He has extensive contacts in the world of espionage and terrorism. He’s been shot, kidnapped and seconds from execution in the pursuit of journalism. His book, Desperate Glory, was listed by the Economist as a book of the year