David Ignatius is an internationally admired foreign affairs columnist and associate editor for The Washington Post. He is also a popular novelist, having written 11 fascinating books about the world he covers as a reporter and columnist. His latest, Phantom Orbit, is about space warfare.

Ignatius’s strength as a columnist and novelist lies in his extraordinary knowledge of—and access to—primary players in espionage, politics, government, and the private sector around the world. These are individuals on the front lines of the global struggle among nations to survive and dominate in both peace and war.

David Ignatius graduated from Harvard College magna cum laude and studied at King’s College, Cambridge. He has had a varied and distinguished career, working as an editor and reporter at The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, and serving as executive editor of the International Herald Tribune in Paris. In addition to writing novels and a twice-weekly column, he is also a commentator for MSNBC, appearing often on Morning Joe. He has written frequently about the Iranian war.

This is an important moment in the Iranian war, as all parties pursue their objectives and search for an end.