Isabel Hilton is the editor of chinadialogue.net, and was editor and editor-in-chief of openDemocracy from March 2005-July 2007. She is a journalist, broadcaster, writer and commentator and has worked for and contributed to a wide range of international media, including the Guardian, the Financial Times, the Independent, the Sunday Times, the Economist, the New Yorker, the New York Times, Granta and the BBC. She has reported extensively from Latin America, South Asia, China, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Isabel Hilton wrote The Search For The Panchen Lama (2000) and has co-authored other books, including The Falklands War (1982). She has reported several documentaries for the BBC, such as Petra and The General, an investigation of the life and death of Petra Kelly (1994).

An expert on Chinese affairs, Isabel Hilton holds a degree in Chinese from the University of Edinburgh and also studied at the Peking Language Institute and Fudan University in Shanghai. After working for The Sunday Times covering home and foreign affairs she joined The Independent in 1986 as Latin America editor. She was appointed European affairs editor and chief feature writer before leaving the newspaper in 1995. Isabel Hilton presented BBC Radio 4's The World Tonight from 1995 until 1998, then joined Radio 3's Night Waves, which she still presents.

Isabel Hilton lectures extensively on foreign affairs on a wide variety of platforms. She is a member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, the British Association of China Scholars and has served on the advisory committee of the Latin America Bureau.

Recent articles

The terror attacks in London are a moment to reaffirm democratic values, says openDemocracy editor Isabel Hilton.

(This article was first published on 7 July 2005)

Clive Stafford Smith is a lawyer who represents many of the more than 500 prisoners in Guantánamo Bay. In an exclusive interview for openDemocracy, he describes the prison camp and the conditions that lawyers work under, tells us that his clients have been tortured and explains how false information extracted by torture is contaminating US intelligence. Listen to Guantánamo, the inside story.

(This was first published on 23 November 2005)

openDemocracy's experience is proof of the value and influence of serious global journalism on the web, says our departing editor-in-chief Isabel Hilton.

Peace-building is patient, exacting, unglamorous, long-term work, whose footsoldiers are often women - the opposite of the shock and awe of modern war. In light of a Galway conference of women peace activists from around the world convened by the Nobel Women's Initiative, Isabel Hilton reflects on how the hard road to peace offers lessons for democracy too.

The Economist newspaper presents an optimistic picture of Britain in the age of globalisation. Isabel Hilton digests its argument and invites openDemocracy readers to respond.