John Kampfner
Foreign correspondent specialising in geopolitics, and bestselling author
- John has had a 25-year award-winning career in international public life – spanning media, global affairs, UK politics, education, business, arts and the third sector. His biggest passion is probing and explaining what’s going on all over the world.
Full Profile
John Kampfner – Award-Winning Author, Journalist, and Leading Geopolitical Commentator
John Kampfner is a renowned author, journalist, and political commentator who engages audiences around the world to help them understand and interpret the geopolitical forces that have shaped — and continue to shape — modern society.
As a foreign correspondent for The Daily Telegraph, he was based in both Berlin and Moscow. An authority on Germany, Russia, and European affairs, he has reported on some of the most defining global events of the past 35 years, including the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of Soviet Communism, and the rise of Vladimir Putin. Beyond Europe, he has also produced documentaries on U.S. foreign policy and the Middle East conflict.
As a long-standing political commentator for the Financial Times and the BBC, and as former editor of The New Statesman magazine, he is regarded as one of the most respected voices in British political journalism. His work has spanned governments from Tony Blair to Keir Starmer, covering key issues such as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Brexit, and the conflict in Ukraine.
John contributes regularly to The Guardian, Financial Times, Foreign Policy, and Der Spiegel, and frequently appears on television and radio across Europe. He also continues to create programmes for BBC Radio 4 and the World Service.
His most recent book, In Search of Berlin (2023), was published to critical acclaim, following his Sunday Times best-seller Why the Germans Do It Better (2020). His earlier works include Blair’s Wars (2003), now a standard text in schools, and Freedom For Sale (2009), which was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. He is currently researching a new book on global best practice, scheduled for publication in mid-2026.
John is based in Berlin, where he is a Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study. He is also a Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and Chair of the UK-German Young Königswinter organisation, which connects emerging thought leaders from both nations. In addition, he serves on the board of the German-British Association.
For the past five years, he has chaired the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration and was the founding Chair of Turner Contemporary, one of the UK’s most successful art galleries. In recognition of his contribution to the arts, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Bath Spa University in 2019.