Johann Hari

Johann Hari (born 1979) is a British journalist and writer.

He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, to a Swiss-German father and a Scottish mother. He was brought up in London, and read Social and Political Sciences at King's College, Cambridge, graduating in 2001.

Snce 2003 he has been a columnist for The Independent, and his work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Le Monde and Ha'aretz. His causes include environmentalism, the legalisation of drugs , prison reform, defending asylum seekers and refugees, opposing the IMF and World Bank (which he calls "agents of market fundamentalism"), calling for a Palestinian state, opposing religion (which he calls "organised superstition") and writing on the role of corporations in the genocide in Darfur.

He is also the author of a book about the English monarchy which called for a republic, and an acclaimed play called 'Going Down in History'. He has reported from Iraq and Israel/Palestine. His Independent column appears every Wednesday and Friday, and he has won several awards.

Johann Hari self-identifies as a left-winger, although some people on the left believe his support for the invasion of Iraq — after visiting the country — contradicts this. He always opposed the WMD rationale for war and said "the Bush administration is very obviously not doing this for the right reasons, to say the least"; but he believed "a majority of Iraqis would rather takes their chances with a horrible American occupation than with the living hell of Saddam and his sons for generations to come." Since the end of the war, he has been fiercely critical of the 'structural adjustment' of Iraq, and supported early elections and troop withdrawal.

He is a member of the Labour Party, but opposes the party leadership on certain issues, being to the left of the government. He is openly gay and an atheist. He has written positively (March 2005) of Tony Blair's stand on gay issues.

External links

• JohannHari.com official website, featuring an archive of his writings.