Thomas Patrick Lowndes de Waal(born 1966) is a British journalist and writer on theCaucasus.He is a senior fellow atCarnegie Europe.He is best known for his 2003 bookBlack Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War.
Thomas de Waal | |
|---|---|
 De Waal at theCarnegie Endowment for International Peace,Washington DC, 20 June 2013 | |
| Born | 1966 (age 57–58) Nottingham,UK |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Notable work | Black Garden(2003) |
Life and career
editThomas De Waal was born inNottingham,England. He is the son of Esther Aline (née Lowndes-Moir), a writer on religion, andAnglican priestVictor de Waal.De Waal graduated fromBalliol College, Oxford,with a First Class Degree in Modern Languages (Russian and Modern Greek).
De Waal is the author ofBlack Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War(New York, 2003), a book widely referred to in the context of discussing the Karabakh conflict and its genesis.[1]
As a journalist, de Waal has reported for, amongst others, theBBC World Service,theMoscow Times,andThe Times.[2]He was a Caucasus editor at theInstitute for War and Peace Reporting(IWPR) in London until December 2008, and later a research associate with the peace-building NGOConciliation Resources.
From 2010 to 2015, de Waal worked as a Senior Associate in the Russia and Eurasia Program at theCarnegie Endowment for International Peace,specialising primarily in the South Caucasus region.[3]Currently he is a senior fellow withCarnegie Europe,specializing in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus region.[4]
In his position as Senior Fellow for Carnegie Europe, de Waal has written extensively on the Caucasus, with commentary on ongoing events, on breakaway regions, and also larger publications on the region, including books introducing the Caucasus region, and, inThe Great Catastrophe(2015), on the aftermath and politics of the Armenian Genocide, also highlighting efforts by Armenians, Kurds, and Turks to come to terms with this history.[5]In 2014, de Waal had provided the introduction toTwo Close Peoples, Two Distant Neighbours,a book collecting the major writings on Armenian-Turkish relations byHrant Dink.[6]
Next to the Carnegie Europe website, his analysis has been published in Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, and various other outlets.[7][8]Like other prominent commentators on the region, De Waal has been criticized for some of the analysis he has put forward.[9]
In 2023, de Waal published a translation ofOsip Mandelstam'sTristia.
Work on Russia and Chechnya
editDe Waal has repeatedly worked on and reported fromChechnya.He is the co-author ofChechnya: Calamity in the Caucasus(New York, 1998).
In 2006 theMinistry of Foreign Affairs of Russiahad denied an entry visa to De Waal, who was due to attend inMoscowthe presentation of a Russian version of his book on the conflict inNagorno-Karabakh,citing a law that says a visa can be refused "in the aims of ensuring state security."[10]De Waal believes that his visa denial was retaliation for his critical reporting about theRussian war in Chechnya.[11][12]
De Waal has written the introduction toAnna Politkovskaya's first book in English,A Dirty War(2004), which describes the atrocities and abuses of that conflict.[13]
Other biographical background
editDe Waal is the brother of Africa specialistAlex de Waal,barristerJohn de Waal, and potter and writerEdmund de Waal.
Through his grandmother, Elisabeth de Waal (née Ephrussi), Thomas de Waal is related to theEphrussi familywho were wealthyJewishbankers and art patrons in pre-World War IIEurope and whose fortunes started in 19th-centuryOdessa.He had done some research on the family's Russian branch, and helped with the research of his family's history by his brotherEdmund de Waal,which led to the publication of the bookThe Hare with Amber Eyes.
Bibliography
edit- Chechnya: Calamity in the Caucasus.NYU Press. 1999.ISBN0814731325.
- Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War.New York University Press. 2003.ISBN0814719449.
- The Caucasus: An Introduction.Oxford University Press. 2010.ISBN978-0195399769.(2nd edition, 2018)
- Great Catastrophe: Armenians and Turks in the Shadow of Genocide.Oxford University Press. 2015.ISBN978-0199350698.
- Beyond Frozen Conflict: Scenarios for the Separatist Disputes of Eastern Europe.Center for European Policy Studies. 2020.ISBN978-1538144176.
- Tristia, by Osip Mandelstam: Translated from the Russian by Thomas de Waal.Arc Publications. 2023.ISBN9781910345931.
References
edit- ^"Awards & Grants: Black garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan through peace and war".Choice Reviews.American Library Association.Retrieved16 May2021.
- ^Russia bars UK reporter on security grounds by Oliver Bullough
- ^Thomas de Waal – Carnegie Endowment for International PeaceArchived27 February 2011 at theWayback Machine
- ^"Thomas de Waal".Carnegie Europe - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.Retrieved20 May2021.
- ^Larsen, Joseph (14 May 2015)."Book Review: Great Catastrophe by Thomas de Waal".Georgia Today.Retrieved9 August2023.
- ^Dink, Hrant; Dikbaş, Nazım; De Waal, Thomas; Mahçupyan, Etyen (2014).Two close peoples two distant neighbours(PDF).Istanbul: Hrant Dink Foundation.ISBN978-605-64488-4-3.Retrieved10 August2023.
- ^Waal, Thomas de (30 May 2022)."Nagorno-Karabakh in the Shadow of Ukraine".Foreign Affairs.ISSN0015-7120.Retrieved9 August2023.
- ^Waal, Thomas de (7 July 2022)."How Georgia Stumbled on the Road to Europe".Foreign Policy.Retrieved9 August2023.
- ^"Carnegie Europe and Thomas de Waal under critique".Agos.15 June 2021.Retrieved9 August2023.
- ^"British journalist denied entry visa".CJES/IFEX. 4 July 2006.Retrieved30 May2021.
- ^The St Petersburg Times, "Activists, Reporters Also Called a Threat"by Carl Schreck, 8 August 2006 (Issue # 1193)
- ^De Waal, Thomas. "Opinions: Barred by Moscow"Prospect Magazine,July 2006, issue 124.
- ^Politovskaya, Anna (2004).A Dirty War.Harvill Press.ISBN1860468977.