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Ben Judah

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Benjamin William Judah (born 31 March 1988) is a British journalist and author of This Is London and Fragile Empire. Since February 2024, he has been a special adviser to David Lammy, who became Foreign Secretary in July 2024 and Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary in September 2025.

Early and personal life

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The son of journalist Tim Judah and Rosie Whitehouse, he was born in London.[1] [2] He is of Baghdadi Jewish descent.[3] He spent a portion of his childhood in the Balkans before returning to London where he was educated at the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle.[1] He studied politics at Trinity College, Oxford during the 2000s.[4][5] Judah is married to journalist Rosie Gray.[6]

Career

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Judah began his career as a foreign correspondent. He covered the 2008 Russo-Georgian War,[5] the 2010 Kyrgyz Revolution and the 2011 Tunisian Revolution and has reported from the Levant, Caucasus, Siberia, Central Asia and Xinjiang.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13]

Judah has held fellowships on foreign affairs at a variety of think-tanks committed to Western alliances. From 2010 to 2012, Judah was a policy fellow in London at the European Council on Foreign Relations, a pro-European think tank.[14] From 2017 to 2020, he held a research fellowship at the Atlanticist think tank the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C., where he led research for the Kleptocracy Initiative.[15][16] From 2020 to 2024, He was a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a think tank in Washington, D.C.,where he directed the Transform Europe Initiative.[17]

Judah has written three books. His first, Fragile Empire (2013), a study of Vladimir Putin's Russia, was published by Yale University Press.[18][19] His second, This Is London, was published by Picador in 2016. The book was longlisted for the 2016 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-fiction and its Polish translation shortlisted for the 2019 Ryszard Kapuscinski Award for Literary Reportage.[20][21] This Is London brought Judah to the attention of MP David Lammy.[22] His third book This is Europe was published by Picador in 2023.[citation needed]

Political career

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On 29 February 2024, Judah was announced as a political adviser to David Lammy, who became Foreign Secretary that July. According to the New Statesman, Judah shaped Lammy's doctrine of "progressive realism" and raised Lammy's profile domestically and internationally.[22][23]

Awards and recognition

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In 2015, he was commended as the Feature Writer of the Year award at the British Press Awards.[24]

Judah's name appeared on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list in 2016.[25]

In 2024, the New Statesman named Judah as one of the 50 most influential people shaping the UK's progressive politics.[22]

Bibliography

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Books

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  • Fragile Empire. Yale University Press. 2013. ISBN 978-0300205220.
  • This Is London. Picador. 2016. ISBN 9781447272441.
  • This is Europe: The Way We Live Now. Picador. 2023. ISBN 9781447276265.

References

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  1. ^ a b Clibbon, Jennifer. "Snowden, Syria, Vladimir Putin's 'Cold Peace' with the West | CBC News".
  2. ^ "Ben Judah: Labour's new voice on Europe". TheArticle. 12 March 2024. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  3. ^ Judah, Ben. "Ben Judah: The last of our synagogues". www.thejc.com. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Ben Judah feels like a stranger in his native London". The Spectator. 6 February 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Cherwell Star: Ben Judah". Cherwell. 16 October 2008. Archived from the original on 22 November 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  6. ^ Palmer, Anna; Sherman, Jake (2 September 2019). "POLITICO Playbook: Trump's 'lost summer'". POLITICO. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  7. ^ Judah, Ben (April 2011). "From Carthage to Kasserine". Standpoint Magazine. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  8. ^ Judah, Ben (9 April 2010). "Blood in the Streets of Bishkek". Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  9. ^ Judah, Ben (October 2009). "Moscow: Putin's Empire Strikes Out". Standpoint Magazine. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  10. ^ Judah, Ben (October 2008). "Caucasus: Diary, August–September, 2008". Standpoint Magazine. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  11. ^ "Hunting the Lynx with the Old Believers | Standpoint". Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  12. ^ "Tajikistan: In Search of the Yeti | Standpoint". Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  13. ^ "Xinjiang: Taming China's Wild West | Standpoint". Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  14. ^ "Ben Judah". European Council on Foreign Relations. 9 March 2012.
  15. ^ "Experts – Ben Judah – Hudson Institute". www.hudson.org. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  16. ^ Judah, Ben (2024), Fighting Kleptocracy in an Era of Geopolitics (PDF), Washington, DC: National Endowment for Democracy, p. 19
  17. ^ "Ben Judah". Atlantic Council. Archived from the original on 3 September 2025. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  18. ^ Feinberg, Richard (November 2013). "Fragile Empire: How Russia Fell In and Out of Love with Vladimir Putin". Foreign Affairs. 92 (6).
  19. ^ Tismaneanu, Vladimir (May 2014). "Reviewed Work: Fragile Empire: How Russia Fell In and Out of Love with Vladimir Putin by Ben Judah". International Affairs. 90 (3): 725–727.
  20. ^ Oliver, Tim (1 May 2016). "This Is London: Life and Death in the World City Ben Judah" (PDF). International Affairs. 92 (3): 737–738. doi:10.1111/1468-2346.12627.
  21. ^ "This is London by Ben Judah". www.panmacmillan.com. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  22. ^ a b c "The left power list 2024". New Statesman. 4 June 2024. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  23. ^ Bloom, Dan (29 February 2024). "All eyes on the police". Politico. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  24. ^ "Press Awards". Archived from the original on 26 June 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  25. ^ "Ben Judah, 27". Forbes. 18 January 2016. Archived from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
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