Anuj Chopra is an award-winning journalist working on a nonfiction book about Saudi Arabia, a profile of the kingdom in the age of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Currently a Washington, DC-based reporter for Agence France-Presse, Chopra was a 2022 Knight-Bagehot Fellow and Dart Center Ochberg Fellow at Columbia University. In addition to being AFP鈥檚 inaugural disinformation correspondent, he also assists with coverage of international crises such as the Ukraine conflict and the Israel-Hamas war. From 2017 to 2021, he served as AFP鈥檚 Riyadh bureau chief, covering Saudi Arabia and reporting extensively from neighboring war-torn Yemen. Prior to that, he spent two and a half years as AFP鈥檚 Kabul bureau chief. Chopra began working for AFP in 2011 in Hong Kong as an editor at the agency鈥檚 Asia-Pacific headquarters, a stint that included assignments in Syria, Afghanistan, and Myanmar. He has written for outlets such as The Atlantic, Time, The Economist, Foreign Policy, and The Washington Post.
Chopra has won several prizes for his work, including the Walid El-Gabry Memorial Award, the CNN Young Journalist Award, the Society of Publishers in Asia Award, the Human Rights Press Award, and the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism.
Selected Work
- : This award-winning longread in The Guardian chronicles the behind-the-scenes power struggles that fueled the dramatic rise of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
- : This personal essay, published by Agence France-Presse, explores the stark juxtaposition of abundance and famine-like conditions witnessed during multiple reporting trips across Yemen.
- : This piece in The Atlantic is a tribute to fallen colleagues, highlighting the enduring power of on-the-ground reporting.
- : This Agence France-Presse report from Jerusalem examines the surge in personal gun ownership in wartime Israel.
- : This Agence France-Presse report from Ukraine鈥檚 Kharkiv region, a hellscape of shell-pocked buildings and devastated neighborhoods, explores the daunting challenge of rebuilding as Russian bombardment continues unabated.