“I never planned on being a journalist. People don’t believe me when I say this, but back in August 2012, I was a full-time classical violinist. Orchestras, string quartets, violin sonata evenings, that sort of thing. When the war in Syria broke out, I was in Beirut, and journalists needed Arabic-to-English translators. A friend recommended me for work with the Los Angeles Times, and it went from there.”

Nabih Bulos, the Middle East bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times, currently assigned to also cover Ukraine, looks back on a fascinating and extraordinary life. Born in Jordan, he is a Fulbright scholar and classical violinist who has performed with Daniel Barenboim, among many others. The outbreak of the war in Syria changed his path dramatically. Since 2012, he has covered the aftermath of the Arab Spring revolutions as well as the Islamic State’s resurgence and the campaign to defeat it. In conversation with Jacob Eder, he talks about his journey from music into his current profession, his work as a journalist in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Gaza, Yemen, and now the Ukraine—and what he has learned after ten years of trying to make sense of conflict and war.
Welcoming address by Carsten Wilms, Head of Division “Cultural Relations Maghreb, Near and Middle East” in the Federal Foreign Office.

With a musical performance by Nabih Bulos and Michael Barenboim.

Presented in English