Stephen Sackur, the presenter of HARDtalk, BBC World News' flagship current affairs interview programme, has been a journalist with BBC News since 1986.
He has interviewed presidents, prime ministers and leading personalities from all over the world over the past decade.
In November 2010, Stephen was awarded the "International TV Personality of the Year Award" by the Association of International Broadcasters.
Before taking over HARDtalk, Stephen was based in Brussels for three years as the BBC's Europe Correspondent. He traveled across Europe to cover major stories around the continent, including the accession of the former communist east European states in 2004.
Prior to this, Stephen was the BBC's Washington Correspondent from July 1997. With a keen interest in politics, he has interviewed President George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton; covered the 2000 US Presidential Elections, the 'Lewinsky scandal' and the Clinton impeachment trial. He also made a documentary for the BBC's current affairs programme Panorama on the issue of guns in the US.
Stephen has also been the BBC Middle East Correspondent in both Cairo (from 1992 to 1995) and Jerusalem (from 1995 to 1997), covering the peace process, the assassination of the Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the emergence of the Palestinian Authority under the late Yasser Arafat.
Stephen was educated at Cambridge University (BA History, Hons, 1982-5 and Harvard University (Henry Fellowship 1985-6).
