Back to Gideon Rachman
Usually, when I sit down to make a list it is a form of procrastination. Once a year, however, I can put my list-making habit to a practical use – when I write an end-of-year column, picking the five “defining moments” of the past 12 months.
This year has been a vintage one for news, most of it grim. It took just a few moments to scribble down my top four: the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Barack Obama, the Beijing Olympics and the Russia-Georgia war. The fifth choice was more difficult, so I canvassed suggestions from readers of my blog.
They came up with a wide range of suggestions. The most frequent was the terrorist attack on Mumbai. Other events that came up several times were Kosovo’s declaration of independence, Ireland’s rejection of the Lisbon treaty, Nicolas Sarkozy’s six months as “president” of Europe, the first ever Group of 20 nations summit, the US-India nuclear deal, the revival of fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the continued disintegration of Somalia and Zimbabwe. Some wanted me to include more financial events – a reasonable enough suggestion in the year of the credit crunch. Ideas included: “The fall of the house of Madoff” and “Iceland goes kerplunk”. The most unusual suggestion was “Australia’s decline in Test and one-day cricket” (from an Indian).
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This blog covers a variety of topics from US foreign policy to European politics and the Middle East - and whatever else happens to be in the news or catch my attention. I joined the FT as chief foreign affairs commentator in 2006, after a 15-year career at The Economist which included stints as a correspondent in Brussels, Bangkok and Washington. I write a weekly column on foreign affairs, which appears in the paper on Tuesdays. Occasionally my FT colleagues contribute posts to this blog.
Geoff Dyer is the FT's China bureau chief. He has been a correspondent in Shanghai and in Brazil and has also covered the pharmaceuticals and biotechnology industries from London.
Roula Khalaf is the FT's Middle East editor. She has worked for the FT since 1995, first as North Africa correspondent, then Middle East correspondent and most recently as Middle East editor. Before joining the FT, she was a staff writer for Forbes magazine in New York. 
James Blitz is the FT's defence and diplomatic editor. He has been the FT's political editor, based in London, and Rome bureau chief. James is a former Moscow bureau chief for the Sunday Times.
Alan Beattie is the FT's world trade editor. He has previously been economics leader writer and spent two years in Washington DC as chief US economics correspondent. Before joining the FT, Alan was an economist at the Bank of England. 
Victor Mallet is the FT's Madrid correspondent. He is a former Asia editor of the FT, and, in more than 20 years at the organisation, has also worked in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. In 1990 he escaped from Kuwait after being one of the few foreign correspondents there when Iraq invaded. 
Stefan Wagstyl is the FT's eastern Europe editor, co-ordinating coverage of the region. He has also been the FT's bureau chief in Tokyo and New Delhi.
