About Owen Bennett-Jones

Owen is a freelance journalist and writer. A former BBC correspondent and presenter he has been a resident foreign correspondent in Bucharest, Geneva, Islamabad, Hanoi and Beirut. He is recently wrote a history of the Bhutto dynasty which was published by Yale University Press. His writing for the London Review of Books has concentrated on Pakistan, the Iranian militant group MEK (also known as the People’s Mujahedin of Iran), the Deobandi movement and Northern Ireland. He has also written and broadcast extensively on the Pakistani political party the MQM. His columns for Pakistan’s leading English language newspaper Dawn cover Pakistani and international affairs. Owen graduated from the London School of Economics in 1983 and obtained an M Phil in politics from St Antony’s College Oxford in 1985. In 2018 he was awarded a PhD by publication by the University of Hull.

Owen Bennett-Jones is a freelance journalist and writer. A former BBC correspondent and presenter he has been a resident foreign correspondent in Bucharest, Geneva, Islamabad, Hanoi and Beirut. He is recently wrote a history of the Bhutto dynasty which was published by Yale University Press.

Owen's website

NBN Episodes hosted by Owen:

The Future of the Chinese Military

February 23, 2024

The Future of the Chinese Military

James A. Siebens

For all the talk of China being a peaceful country with no aggressive intentions, it has behaved like most other rising powers – spending lots of mone…

The Future of Afghanistan: A Discussion with Kate Clark

February 17, 2024

The Future of Afghanistan

Kate Clark

Ever since the Taliban victory in 2021 there has been very little prospect of significant change in Afghanistan. There is no rival to the Taliban and …

The Future of the Future: A Discussion with Jonathan White

February 7, 2024

The Future of the Future

Jonathan White

"An air of finality pervades today’s world." That is the opening sentence of Jonathan White’s book In the Long Run: The Future as a Political Idea (Pr…

The Future of School Reform

January 31, 2024

The Future of School Reform

Alison Colwell

Educationalists sometimes argue that the best way to improve a failing school is to appoint a strict principal or head, and this is sometimes the case…

The Future of Images of Human Evolution

January 20, 2024

The Future of Images of Human Evolution

Gowan Dawson

We are all familiar with the “march of progress” image - the representation of evolution that depicts a series of apelike creatures becoming progressi…

The Future of Ireland: Kevin Meagher on Why a United Ireland is Inevitable

January 17, 2024

The Future of Ireland

Kevin Meagher

In A United Ireland: Why Unification in Inevitable and How It Will Come About (Biteback Publishing, 2017), Kevin Meagher argues that a reasoned, pragm…

The Future of Migration: A Discussion with Hein de Haas

December 23, 2023

The Future of Migration

Hein de Haas

Immigration has become one of the biggest issues in all western democracies. And the debate is so charged it's hard to know who to believe. Which is w…

The Future of Global Economic Governance: A Discussion with Jamie Martin

December 16, 2023

The Future of Global Economic Governance

Jamie Martin

With increasing talk of de-dollarization and the Gulf attempts to get more influence in the IMF it’s a good time to talk about the world’s internation…

The Future of Predictions: A Discussion with Christopher E. Mason

December 9, 2023

The Future of Predictions

Christopher E Mason

Predictive algorithms are changing the world – that is the claim of Christopher E. Mason who has co-authored (with Igor Tulchinsky) the book The Age o…

The Future of the State: A Discussion with Graeme Garrard

December 4, 2023

The Future of the State

Graeme Garrard

The Reagan-Thatcher neoliberal era started the retreat of the state. Privatisation and deregulation meant power was handed over to corporations and m…

The Future of Innovation: A Discussion with Min W. Jung

November 26, 2023

The Future of Innovation

Min W. Jung

Humans have been so dominant on Earth in large part because of their capacity to innovate – but how does that work exactly? Why can they innovate so m…

The Future of the Rural-Urban Divide: A Discussion with Nicholas F. Jacobs and Daniel M. Shea

November 20, 2023

The Future of the Rural-Urban Divide

Nicholas F. Jacobs and Daniel M. Shea

The town/countryside split has always been a feature of democratic Western politics and has impacted party choice. The advent of rust belts may have …

The Future of World Disorder: A Discussion with Peter R. Neumann

November 14, 2023

The Future of World Disorder

Peter R. Neumann
Listen:

Do confusions in the West threaten a new world disorder? It’s a question asked by Professor Peter R. Neumann of Kings College, London. He is the autho…

The Future of Crucial Materials: A Discussion with Ed Conway

November 9, 2023

The Future of Crucial Materials

Ed Conway
Listen:

Sand, salt, iron, copper, oil, and lithium. These fundamental materials have created empires, razed civilizations, and fed our ingenuity and greed for…

The Future of Cancelling: A Conversation with Greg Lukianoff

November 1, 2023

The Future of Cancelling

Listen:

Cancel culture is something all academics are aware of and some are concerned about. Certainly that’s true of Greg Lukianoff who was the co-author (w…

The Future of Paying Attention: A Discussion with Carolyn Dicey Jennings

October 24, 2023

The Future of Paying Attention

Carolyn Dicey Jennings

Is it really harder to pay attention to something than it used to be? No doubt the world is getting faster, and social media platforms are so good at …

The Future of Incarceration: A Discussion with Colleen P. Eren

October 18, 2023

The Future of Incarceration

Colleen P. Eren

The United States has long been associated with a very harsh criminal justice system with, in some cases, people serving long sentence for minor crime…

The Future of Superstates: A Discussion with Alasdair Roberts

October 9, 2023

The Future of Superstates

Alasdair Roberts
Listen:

Empires​ are supposed to be a thing of the past but very big countries with global reach are becoming more entrenched. By 2050, almost 40 per cent of …

The Future of the EAST: A Discussion with Yasheng Huang

October 2, 2023

The Future of the EAST

Yasheng Huang
Listen:

Exams, autocracy, stability, and technology have been hallmarks of Chinese society for centuries — from ancient times through to the present. Is that …

The Future of Ukraine: A Discussion with Christopher Miller

September 24, 2023

The Future of Ukraine

Christopher Miller

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has already changed the world. Why did it happen? Who is winning? How will it end? Christopher Miller is the author of…

The Future of Anarchism: A Discussion with Ruth Kinna

September 16, 2023

The Future of Anarchism

Ruth Kinna

50 years ago, anarchism was written off by some as a set of outdated idealistic ideas that had no contemporary relevance. Then came protests at events…

The Future of Secularization: A Discussion with Ryan Cragun

September 11, 2023

The Future of Secularization

Ryan Cragun
Listen:

The statement ‘we live in a secular age’ is open to the obvious challenge that in some parts of the word, religion is a growing force in society. And …

The Future of the NHS: A Discussion with Gavin Francis

September 3, 2023

The Future of the NHS

Gavin Francis

The British National Health Service - free for all - used to be the envy of the world. But today the NHS is malfunctioning. More and more people are r…

The Future of Talking: A Discussion with Shane O'Mara

August 26, 2023

The Future of Talking

Shane O'Mara

Talking is a defining part of what makes us human – we are almost constantly in dialogue but what purpose does all this conversation serve? Both for …