Arnaud de Borchgrave | |
|---|---|
 Arnaud de Borchgrave receiving theLegion of Honour in July 2014 | |
| Born | Count Arnaud Charles Paul Marie Philippe de Borchgrave[1] 26 October 1926 Brussels, Belgium |
| Died | 15 February 2015(2015-02-15) (aged 88) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Resting place | Rock Creek Cemetery Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | International journalism |
| Relatives | Sir Charles Townshend(grandfather) CountLouis Cahen d'Anvers(great-grandfather) George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend(4x great-grandfather) |
| Honours | National Order of the Legion of Honour |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1942–1946 |
| Battles / wars | Second World War |
| Awards |
|
Arnaud Charles Paul Marie Philippe de Borchgrave (26 October 1926 – 15 February 2015) was a Belgian–Americanjournalist who specialized in international politics.[2] Following a long career with the news magazineNewsweek, covering 17 wars in 30 years as aforeign correspondent, he held key editorial and executive positions withThe Washington Times andUnited Press International. Borchgrave was also a founding member ofNewsmax Media.[3]
Borchgrave was born inBrussels into theDe Borchgrave d'Altena family. He was the son of BelgianCount Baudouin de Borchgrave d'Altena, later head ofmilitary intelligence for theBelgian government in exile duringWorld War II, and his British wife Audrey Dorothy Louise Townshend. His mother was the daughter of Major GeneralSir Charles Townshend and his French wife, Alice Cahen d'Anvers, who appeared in a notable 1881 portrait alongside her sister inPierre-Auguste Renoir'sPink and Blue. His maternal great-grandfather was CountLouis Cahen d'Anvers, a prominent French banker.[4] He was a descendant ofField MarshalGeorge Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend, through his second son,Lord John Townshend.[1]
Borchgrave was educated in Belgium, atKing's Canterbury inEngland, and in the United States.
In 1940, asBelgium fell to Nazi Germany's invasion, he and his family escaped on a freighter, and were rescued by a British destroyer after the freighter's captain had attempted to divert toHamburg.
From 1942 to 1946, during much ofWorld War II, Borchgrave served in the BritishRoyal Navy. He enrolled at age 15, after running away from home and convincing his grandmother to assist in falsifying his age so he could enlist.[5] He was awarded theMaritime Medal by Belgium.[1]
In 1947, Borchgrave was appointed as theBrussels bureau manager forUnited Press, and in 1950 he becameNewsweek's bureau chief inParis, and then its chief correspondent. In 1951, he gave up his Belgian title of nobility in 1951.[6]
In 1953, he became a senior editor for the magazine.Osborn Elliott, former editor-in-chief ofNewsweek, once said:
De Borchgrave has played a role in world affairs known to no other journalist. He has been able to tap the thinking of numerous world leaders... despite his intimacy with major policymakers, he has never aligned himself with either side of a dispute.... Arnaud de Borchgrave has made significant contributions toworld peace and understanding.[7][8]
As a correspondent forNewsweek, Borchgrave secured several interviews with world leaders. In 1969, he interviewed both PresidentGamal Abdel Nasser ofEgypt and Prime MinisterLevi Eshkol ofIsrael.
In October 1972, during theVietnam War, he travelled toHanoi to interview Prime Minister andPolitburo memberPham Van Dong inNorth Vietnam. In that interview, Dong described a provision of a proposed peace deal as a "coalition of transition," which raised fears inSouth Vietnam that the deal involved a coalition government and may have played a role inSouth Vietnam's rejection of the deal.
In 1980, Borchgrave co-authoredThe Spike, a novel, withRobert Moss.
In March 1985, he was appointededitor-in-chief ofThe Washington Times, and went on to serve in the late 1990s as CEO of a much-diminishedUnited Press International, the successor to his early-career employer, during the latter part of the agency's ownership by a group ofSaudi investors. In that role, Borchgrave orchestrated UPI's exit from its last major media niche, the broadcast news business that United Press had initiated in the 1930s.
He maintained that "what was brilliant pioneering work on the part of UPI prior to World War II, with radio news, is now a static quantity and so far as I'm concerned, certainly doesn't fit into my plans for the future." He sought to shift UPI's dwindling resources into Internet-based delivery of newsletter services, focusing more on technical and diplomatic specialties than on general news. The rump UPI thus sold their client list of its still-significant radio network and broadcast wire to its former rival, the AP.[9]
The following year, Borchgrave played a key role in the sale of the further downsized UPI toNews World Communications, the international news media company founded in 1976 byUnification Church leaderSun Myung Moon, who was also the founder ofThe Washington Times for which Borchgrave had worked earlier.
After his CEO turn at UPI, Borchgrave became "Editor-at-Large" ofThe Washington Times andUPI, writing regular columns published by either or both and retaining associations with bothUnification Church-owned media outlets. He also served as Project Director for Transnational Threats and Senior Advisor at theCenter for Strategic and International Studies.[10][11] He was a contributor toThe Globalist, a daily online magazine.[12]
According toFlashback, a 1990 book byMorley Safer, Borchgrave testified before SenatorJeremiah Denton's subcommittee in 1981 thatPham Xuan An, aTime employee andViet Cong spy based inSaigon, "was an agent whose mission was to disinform the Western press". An denied to Safer that he planted disinformation, saying that his Viet Cong bosses thought it would be too obvious and that they preferred he feed them information instead.[13]
Borchgrave was a founding member ofNewsmax Media. He also belonged to theForeign Policy Association, occasionally appearing as a panelist in their videos and events.[14]
As a journalist, Borchgrave interviewed many heads of state, heads of government, monarchs, and key figures of the world, includingMullah Omar, who he interviewed with UPI international consultant Ammar Turabi three months prior to theSeptember 11 attacks. The interview offered insight for decision and policy makers globally and has been published in several print media multiple times since the 2001 attacks, and UPI considers the interview, the only one ever conducted with Omar, one of its best achievements, including it inUPI's 100 Years of Excellence.[15]
On 17 May 2012,Erik Wemple, a blogger forThe Washington Post, reported that Borchgrave's columns inThe Washington Times reflected histhink tank work at theCenter for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and raised questions about the originality of some of his writing, citing similarities between elements of his columns and other published material. Wemple included Borchgrave's explanations for those, but also the doubts expressed about the similarities by some of the other organizations involved.[16] Elsewhere, the news websiteSalon reported that anonymousWashington Times officials claimed that the paper had known about Borchgrave's plagiarism nearly a year before Wemple's investigation and had initially discontinued his column before resuming it without any disciplinary action.
Borchgrave denied the allegations and claimed that his column was suspended because he was on book leave.[17] TheWashington Times then announced that Borchgrave would take a hiatus to complete work on his memoirs while the paper conducted an inquiry into his work.[18] Some of Borchgrave's latest columns were removed from theWashington Times website.[19] CSIS conducted its own investigation of work Borchgrave had published under its name.[20]
In July 2014, Borchgrave was awarded aknighthood inFrance's theLegion of Honour.[21]
Borchgrave has been featured on several TV and Internet shows, includingWeekend World,The Bob Braun Show,The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,The McLaughlin Group,Paula Zahn Now, andJames Goodale'sDigital Age onWNYE-TV.
He appeared as himself in a 1984United States Information Agency report titledSoviet Active Measures.[22]
In 1969, following two earlier marriages, Borchgrave married Alexandra Villard, daughter of the ambassador and authorHenry Serrano Villard.[23] Together with John Cullen, Alexandra published a biography ofHenry Villard, a railroad tycoon and her great-grandfather.[24]
Borchgrave died ofbladder cancer inWashington, D.C. on February 15, 2015, at the age of 88.[2] He was a member of theMetropolitan Club of Washington D.C.
