CNN’s ‘Fareed Zakaria GPS,’ the Popular Show On International Affairs, Completes 15 Years
- The weekly program featured scores of heads of government, business leaders, and celebrities over its 750 episodes.
For a global superpower with strategic and economic interests across all continents, coverage of international affairs in the American news media has been woefully wanting. The only redeeming program has been CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS,” the weekly show dedicated to international affairs. Hosted by Indian American Fareed Zakaria, the show celebrated its 15 anniversary last Sunday.
Global Public Square or GPS, was launched on June 1, 2008. Each week’s program airs from New York or other locations around the world, and is characterized by smart discussion on world events and public affairs, designed to help viewers understand the world around them and the newest thinking on the globe’s biggest challenges.
In the latest 750th episode of GPS on June 4, Zakaria commemorated the anniversary with a collage of videos of the show’s coverage since its launch. It provided a look back at conversations with world leaders, human-rights advocates, artists, and more—and at events that have changed our world, some for better, some for worse.
“It’s astonishing how much has happened in a decade and a half since the show began,” Zakaria said in the video. “George W. Bush was the president; Lehman Brothers were still in business; Britain was part of the European Union; and the iPhone was still on version one.” He talked about wars erupting and cities falling, earthquakes, oil spills, protests, and populous movements, the forming of terror groups, and the hunting down of terrorists. He also talked about “the shootings in Sandy Hook and laws Vegas and sadly too many more to list,” as well as “the stunning insurrection on America’s capital,” the crashing of the economy, and “a global pandemic changed the way we live and work.”
The Mumbai-born, Yale and Harvard-educated Zakaria began his career as managing editor of Foreign Affairs, a prestigious journal focusing on international relations. Among the many positions he held as a journalist and academician, he was the editor of Newsweek International, and a columnist for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and The Atlantic.
He is a recipient of the Peabody Award in 2011 for his special, “Restoring the American Dream: Fixing Education,” and has been among Foreign Policy magazine’s Top 100 Global Thinkers” multiple times.