Rory Stewart

Rory Stewart’s distinguished career began after graduating from Balliol College, Oxford, where he read history, leading to his entry into Her Majesty’s Diplomatic Service. He served in the British embassy in Jakarta from 1997 to 1999, followed by an appointment as British Representative to Montenegro in 1999. In 2003, following the invasion of Iraq, Stewart was appointed Deputy Governorate Co-ordinator in Maysan and Dhi Qar for the Coalition Provisional Authority, an experience for which he was awarded an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2004 for his exceptional service. His unique experiences continued with an extensive two-year walk across Asia from 2000 to 2002, including a 36-day solo trek across Afghanistan.

Transitioning from party politics, Stewart became a senior fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs in 2020. Since 2022, he has co-hosted the widely recognized podcast, ‘The Rest Is Politics’, sharing insights on international affairs and governance. In 2022, he was also named president of GiveDirectly, a leading international NGO. His latest book, Politics on the Edge, was published in 2023, and in 2024, he was appointed Brady Johnson Professor of the Practice of Grand Strategy at Yale University, where he continues to teach at the Jackson School of Global Affairs.