Nicholas Schmidle, Author at Institute of Current World Affairs

Nicholas Schmidle is an author, playwright and screenwriter. He was a longtime contributor to The New Yorker whose most recent book is Test Gods: Virgin Galactic and the Making of a Modern Astronaut. His first book, To Live or to Perish Forever: Two Tumultuous Years in Pakistan, drew from his reporting as an ICWA fellow examining ethnic, sectarian and national identity in Pakistan from 2006 to 2008, when he was accompanied by his wife Rikki. Nick is a National Magazine Award finalist, a two-time Livingston Award finalist and winner of the Kurt Schork Award. He’s been a resident at the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center, a fellow at the New America Foundation and a professor of journalism at Princeton University.

Posts and Dispatches from Nicholas Schmidle:

New Yorker: Nicholas Schmidle on Kuwaiti billionaire
The arrest of a raffish businessman in Saudi Arabia may have foreshadowed Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman's anti-corruption crackdown....
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Nicholas Schmidle in The New Yorker
Nicholas Schmidle (Pakistan, 2006-2008) recently published an article titled “The U.S. Has More to Lose Than Russia in Spy Expulsions” in The New Yorker. Read the whole article here!...
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Former fellow Nicholas Schmidle writes in The New Yorker
Former Fellow Nicholas Schmidle (Pakistan, 2006-2008) wrote an article for The New Yorker regarding U.S. – Russia spy expulsions. Schmidle notes that these expulsions are more detrimental to the U.S. than they are for Russia. Click here to read the full article....
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Nicholas Schmidle in The New Yorker
Former ICWA Fellow Nicholas Schmidle recently published an article in The New Yorker titled “College Grads Fight ISIS with the Kurds.” The piece details Schmidle’s conversations with recent graduates about the state of Syria and fighting terrorism. Click here to read the whole article!...
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Nicholas Schmidle in The New Yorker
Nicholas Schmidle, a former ICWA fellow in Pakistan from 2006 to 2008, has just published an article in The New Yorker titled: “James Comey’s Intellectual History.” The piece highlights Comey’s background leading up to the controversy and events surrounding his recent dismissal by President Trump as Director of the FBI. The article documents his rise...
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Nicholas Schmidle’s Breakdown of Flynn and Turkey is Necessary Reading
This week’s New Yorker features former ICWA fellow Nicholas Schmidle explaining Michael Flynn and Turkey’s complicated relationship – we say it’s required reading in a time of alternative facts. ...
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Can Technology Make Football Safer?
In this latest article for the New Yorker, Nicholas Schmidle writes about head injuries in Football and the use of robots and helmet technology to prevent it....
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Ten Borders
The New Yorker – Staff writer and past ICWA Fellow Nicholas Schmidle traces the incredible journey of one Syrian refugee in his latest piece. Gahith, a Syrian law student, fled his home country and traveled across Europe, encountering other refugees, smugglers, police brutality, and mores, crossing ten borders before reaching eventually Sweden. With input from spokesman for the International Organization...
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“The Kings of the Desert”
The New Yorker — Nicholas Schmidle’s latest piece describes “a billion-dollar mirage” that resulted in a financial scandal in the Middle East and legal proceedings in the United States. This is just the latest of many compelling long form pieces written by Schmidle in his capacity as a Staff Writer at the magazine, where he has been since...
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Nicholas Schmidle Newsletters
Fellowship Years: 2006-2008 Fellowship Topic: Ethnic, sectarian, and national identity Fellowship Area: Pakistan Calling Home: A Story About the MQM in Pakistan Blood Brothers: The Sectarian Story in Pakistan Face-Off: Peacock Nationalism on the Pakistan-India Border Migration Season: The Taliban and their Expanding Influence in Pakistan Brand Games: Polo and Privatization in the Hindu Kush Mountains Reform School:...
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