Ideology Zakaria self-identifies as a "
centrist", though he has been described variously as a
political liberal, a
conservative, a moderate, or a
radical centrist.
George Stephanopoulos said of him in 2003, "He's so well versed in politics, and he can't be
pigeonholed. I can't be sure whenever I turn to him where he's going to be coming from or what he's going to say." He supported
Barack Obama during the 2008 Democratic primary campaign and also for president. In January 2009,
Forbes referred to Zakaria as one of the 25 most influential liberals in the
American media. In 2003, former Secretary of State
Henry Kissinger told
New York Magazine that Zakaria "has a first-class mind and likes to say things that run against conventional wisdom."
Democracy and the United States Zakaria's books include
The Future of Freedom and
The Post-American World.
The Future of Freedom argues that what is defined as democracy in the Western world is actually "
liberal democracy", a combination of
constitutional liberalism and participatory politics. Zakaria points out that protection of liberty and the rule of law actually preceded popular elections by centuries in Western Europe, and that when countries only adopt elections without the protection of liberty, they create "
illiberal democracy".
The Post-American World, published just before the
2008 financial crisis, argued that the most important trend of modern times is the "rise of the rest", the economic emergence of China, India, Brazil, and other countries. From 2006, Zakaria has also criticized what he views as "fear-based" American policies employed not only in combating terrorism, but also in enforcing immigration and drug smuggling laws, and has argued in favor of decriminalization of drugs and citizenship for presently illegal immigrants to the United States of all backgrounds. Before the
2008 U.S. presidential election, Zakaria
endorsed Barack Obama on his CNN program. In May 2011
The New York Times reported that Obama has "sounded out prominent journalists like Fareed Zakaria ... and
Thomas L. Friedman" concerning Middle East issues. at
St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, June 17, 2016
Asian politics and US involvement After the
9/11 terrorist attacks, in a
Newsweek cover essay, "", Zakaria argued that
Islamic extremism was not fundamentally rooted in
Islam, nor could it be claimed a reaction to
American foreign policy. He located the problem in the political-social-economic stagnation of Arab societies, which then bred an extreme, religious opposition. He portrayed
Osama bin Laden as one in a long line of extremists who used religion to justify mass murder. Zakaria argued for an intergenerational effort to create more open and dynamic societies in Arab countries, and thereby helping Islam enter the modern world. He also hosted a 2016 CNN special titled
"". Zakaria initially supported the
2003 invasion of Iraq. He continued to argue that a functioning
democracy in Iraq would be a powerful new model for Arab politics but suggested that an honest accounting would have to say that the costs of the invasion had been much higher than the benefits. He opposed the Iraq
surge in March 2007, writing that it would work militarily but not politically, still leaving Iraq divided among its three communities. Instead, he advocated that Washington push hard for a political settlement between the Sunni Arabs, Shia Arabs, and Kurds, and begin a reduction in forces to only 60,000 troops. He later wrote that the surge "succeeded" militarily but that it did not produce a political compact and that Iraq remained divided along sectarian lines, undermining its unity, democracy, and legacy. In his 2006 book
State of Denial, journalist
Bob Woodward of
The Washington Post described a November 29, 2001, meeting of Middle East analysts, including Zakaria, that was convened at the request of the then Deputy Secretary of Defense
Paul Wolfowitz. According to a story in
The New York Times on Woodward's book, the Wolfowitz meeting ultimately produced a report for President
George W. Bush that supported the subsequent
invasion of Iraq. Zakaria, however, later told
The New York Times that he had briefly attended what he thought was "a brainstorming session". He was not told that a report would be prepared for the President, and in fact, the report did not have his name on it. The
Times issued a correction. Referring to his views on
Iran,
Leon Wieseltier described Zakaria in 2010 as a "consummate spokesman for the
shibboleths of the [Obama]
White House and for the smooth new worldliness, the at-the-highest-levels impatience with democracy and human rights as central objectives of our foreign policy, that now characterize advanced liberal thinking about America's role in the world." Zakaria supported the April 2017
U.S. missile strike against a Syrian government–controlled airbase. Zakaria praised President
Donald Trump's strike and said it was the moment "[he] became president of the United States." In March 2021, Zakaria criticized the size of the
U.S. military budget, saying that "The United States’
F-35 fighter jet program, bedeviled by cost overruns and technical problems, will ultimately cost taxpayers $1.7 trillion. China will spend a comparable amount of money on its
Belt and Road Initiative...Which is money better spent?".
Social issues in the United States In July 2020, Zakaria was one of the 153 signers of the "Harper's Letter" (also known as "
A Letter on Justice and Open Debate") that expressed concern that "the free exchange of information and ideas, the lifeblood of a liberal society, is daily becoming more constricted." In July 2022, Zakaria wrote a
Washington Post article titled "Forget pronouns. Democrats need to become the party of building things", in which he said "There is plenty of evidence that the Democratic Party has moved left, that it is out of sync with Americans on many of these cultural issues, and that it needs to correct course" and that "This is not a perception problem. It is a reality problem. Democrats need to once more become the party that gets stuff done, builds things and makes government work for people. That's a lot more important to most Americans than using the right pronouns". ==Honors and awards==