William J. Dobson | |
|---|---|
| Born | William Joel Dobson (1973-03-02)March 2, 1973 (age 52) North Kingstown, Rhode Island, United States |
| Alma mater | Middlebury College(AB) Harvard University(AM) Harvard Law School(JD) |
| Occupation | Co-editor |
| Employer | Journal of Democracy |
| Notable credit | The Dictator's Learning Curve |
William J. "Will"Dobson is an American journalist and author who writes frequently on foreign affairs and international politics. He is the co-editor of theJournal of Democracy. Previous roles include Chief International Editor atNPR and the Politics and Foreign Affairs Editor forSlate.[1]
Dobson was born on a naval base inNorth Kingston,Rhode Island. His father, W. Joel Dobson, was a Lt. Commander in theU.S. Navy. His mother, Barbara Joyce Dobson, is an English teacher.
Dobson grew up inSpartanburg, South Carolina, and attendedSpartanburg Day School. He received a Bachelor of Artssumma cum laude fromMiddlebury College. He later earned a master's degree in East Asian Studies fromHarvard University and aJuris Doctorcum laude fromHarvard Law School. He lives inWashington, DC with his wife and two children.[2]
From 2004 to 2008, Dobson was the Managing Editor ofForeign Policy magazine. During his tenure atForeign Policy, the magazine was nominated for aNational Magazine Award five years in a row – the only magazine of its size to receive five consecutive nominations – and won the top prize twice.[3]
Previously, he served as the Senior Editor for Asia atNewsweek International and as Associate Editor atForeign Affairs.[4] He has also been a visiting scholar at theCarnegie Endowment for International Peace.[5]
During the height of theArab Spring, he wrote daily pieces on modern authoritarianism for the Washington Post’s editorial page.[2] While reporting from Cairo, Dobson wrote the first account of the Egyptian military’s torture of female protestors in Tahrir Square.
Dobson's first book,The Dictator's Learning Curve[6] was published byDoubleday in 2012. The non-fiction book is an analysis of modern authoritarianism and has been reviewed by various media.[7]The Washington Post,New York Times,Financial Times, andPublishers Weekly were among those giving positive reviews.[8]
Dobson was named a Young Global Leader by theWorld Economic Forum in 2006.[9] In 2003, he was named the U.S. Rapporteur for the World Economic Forum's East Asia Summit.[10] TheSingapore International Foundation awarded him a Distinguished Visitor Fellowship in 2008.[11] TheEast-West Center awarded him a Senior Journalist Fellowship for Southeast Asia (2006) and anJournalism Fellowship (2008). Dobson was aKnight Media Fellow (2003) to theSalzburg Global Seminar, and later aFreeman Fellow in U.S.-East Asian Relations (2007).[12]
Middlebury College recognized him with anAlumni Achievement Award in 2011.[13] Dobson is also a 1994Truman Scholar.[14]
Dobson has appeared and provided commentary for various news organizations, includingC-SPAN,[15]PBS NewsHour,[16]CNN,CBS,MSNBC,National Public Radio, andVoice of America.