Rory Stewart

Rt. Hon. Rory Stewart OBE

Rory Stewart is the Brady-Johnson Professor of Grand Strategy at Yale University – a former UK cabinet minister and diplomat and Member of Parliament for Penrith and the Border. He served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was a professor at Harvard University and has written a number of bestselling books. His book “the Marches” and his BBC documentary  “Borderland” focuses on the history of Cumbria. He currently teaches Grand Strategy at Yale University and Co-presents the UK’s top podcast, The Rest Is Politics, with Alastair Campbell.

Previously, Rory was the UK Secretary of State for International Development, Minister of State for Justice, Minister of State in Foreign Office and DFID (covering Africa, Middle East, and Asia), Minister for the Environment and Chair of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee.

After a brief period as an infantry officer he joined the UK Diplomatic Service, serving overseas in Jakarta, as British representative to Montenegro in the wake of the Kosovo crisis, and as the coalition Deputy-Governor of two provinces of Southern Iraq following the intervention of 2003.  

He left the diplomatic service to undertake a two-year walk across Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, India and Nepal.

In 2005, he established the Turquoise Mountain Foundation in Kabul, working to restore a section of the old city, establish a clinic, primary school, and Arts Institute, and bring Afghan crafts to international markets. In 2008, he became the Ryan Professor of Human Rights at the Harvard Kennedy School and Director for the Carr Centre for Human Rights Policy.

Rory has also written four books: The Places in Between, Occupational Hazards or The Prince of the Marshes, Can Intervention Work? and The Marches. With a fifth that launched in September 2023 – Politics on the Edge: A Memoir from Within.