The FP Twitterati 100

In a year of economic and political upheaval, with China on the rise, Europe seemingly in meltdown, and the Middle East in flames — amid a pitched battle for the White House — here are the 100 Twitter feeds you need to follow to make sense of it all. To make it easy, we’ve even collected them for you in a handy, one-stop list.

ALL-AROUND NEWS AND VIEWS

David Frum (@davidfrum) — Canadian pundit and former speechwriter for George W. Bush; sort of coined the phrase “Axis of Evil.”

Neal Mann (@fieldproducer) — Social-media editor at the Wall Street Journal, formerly with Sky News. Avid climber.

Steve Inskeep (@NPRInskeep) — Globetrotting host of NPR’s Morning Edition.

Anup Kaphle (@AnupKaphle) — Digital editor for foreign and national security at the Washington Post; self-described Yeti expert.

Mark Knoller (@markknoller) — Longtime White House correspondent for CBS News; fount of obscure presidential trivia.

Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) — Crusading columnist for the New York Times; has traveled to every member of the Axis of Evil at least twice.

Jim Roberts (@nytjim) — Gentlemanly assistant managing editor of the New York Times; Grateful Dead fan.

Andrew Schwartz (@handrewschwartz) — Senior VP at the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington and a great aggregator of national security news.

Ben Smith (@BuzzFeedBen) — Lightning-fast editor of BuzzFeed; ringleader of the American political twittersphere.

Jon Williams (@WilliamsJon) — BBC foreign editor and Middle East watcher.

Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) — Outspoken executive director of Human Rights Watch.

Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) — ABC News senior White House correspondent and master of snark. Breaks a ton of news, both domestic and foreign.

BAY ISMOYO/AFP/Getty Images

POLITICIANS AND DIPLOMATS

Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) — Swedish foreign minister and one of the most candid diplomats around. But he’s having a hard time keeping up with @sweden these days.

Hugo Chávez (@chavezcandanga) — With more than 3 million followers and a penchant for handing out free houses to tweeps, the Venezuelan strongman is a force to be reckoned with.

Paul Kagame (@PaulKagame) — President of Rwanda and Twitter fanatic.

U.S. Sen. John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) — Leader of the loyal opposition.

Michael McFaul (@McFaul) — Barack Obama’s ambassador to Russia, live and occasionally uncensored.

Susan Rice (@AmbassadorRice) — Most official Twitter feeds are unspeakably dull. But Obama’s U.N. envoy stands out for her passion and candor.

Ilves Toomas (@ilvestoomas) — The president of “E-stonia” posts regularly with thoughts on technology and economics, but really made headlines this year with a profanity-laced rant against New York Times columnist Paul Krugman.

Tom Watson (@tom_watson) — Garrulous member of the British parliament and scourge of NewsCorp.

ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/GettyImages

ECONOMICS

Chris Adams (@chrisadamsmkts) — Markets editor at the Financial Times.

Daniel Altman (@altmandaniel) — Adjunct associate professor of economics at New York University’s Stern School of Business and chief economist of Big Think.

Tyler Cowen (@tylercowen) — Professor of economics at George Mason University, author, ethnic food expert, and pioneering econoblogger.

William Easterly (@bill_easterly) — New York University economics professor and aid skeptic. Takes pride in being the 8th-most-famous person from Bowling Green, Ohio.

Fabrizio Goria (@fgoria) — Italian financial journalist and perhaps the essential follow for breaking news on Europe’s economic crisis.

Megan Greene (@economistmeg) — Frighteningly prescient economist at Roubini Global Economics, with a focus on the eurozone crisis.

Robert Peston (@Peston) — Business editor for the BBC.

Nouriel Roubini (@Nouriel) — NYU professor of economics and international business; prophet of doom.

Felix Salmon (@felixsalmon) — Eclectic finance blogger for Reuters.

Joseph Weisenthal (@TheStalwart) — Hyperactive deputy editor at Business Insider.

Zero Hedge (@zerohedge) — Shadowy and often hysterical, but always essential group feed on financial markets.

Tony Fratto (@TonyFratto) — Former U.S. Treasury and White House official, now at Hamilton Place strategies.

Oli Scarff/Getty Images

EUROPE

Edward Lucas (@edwardlucas) — International editor for the Economist, with a focus on Eastern Europe.

J. Clive Matthews (@Nosemonkey) — Managing editor, MSN International, but tweets mainly about the European Union.

Nick Malkoutzis (@NickMalkoutzis) — Deputy editor of Kathimerini, Greece’s daily English-language newspaper and an essential source on the Greek economic crisis.

Paul Mason (@paulmasonnews) — Economic editor at Newsnight and a must-follow on European debt-crisis news.

Doug Saunders (@DougSaunders) — Rangy Europe bureau chief for Canada’s Globe and Mail.

Peter Spiegel (@SpiegelPeter) — Brussels bureau chief for the Financial Times and stalwart summit-tweeter.

Matina Stevis (@MatinaStevis) — Brussels-based journalist for Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal; a key follow on the European crisis.

Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) — Moscow correspondent for the Independent.

Oli Scarff/Getty Images

THE MIDDLE EAST

Issandr El Amrani (@arabist) — Writer and analyst based in Cairo.

Borzou Daragahi (@borzou) — Roving Middle East and North Africa correspondent for the Financial Times and a great aggregator of regional news.

Golnaz Esfandiari (@GEsfandiari) — Iran reporter and blogger for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, based in Washington, D.C.

Jeffrey Goldberg (@Goldberg3000) — Washington-based correspondent for the Atlantic; official therapist of the U.S.-Israel relationship.

Hussein Ibish (@Ibishblog) — Blogger and senior research fellow for the American Task Force on Palestine.

Robin Mills (@robinenergy) — Dubai-based energy consultant and columnist.

Eman Al Nafjan (@Saudiwoman) — Saudi Arabia’s most prominent female blogger.

Ahmed Al Omran (@ahmed) — The original Saudi blogger; NPR social-media producer.

Prashant Rao (@prashantrao) — AFP’s Baghdad bureau chief and one of the few good feeds on Iraq.

Sultan Al Qassemi (@SultanAlQassemi) — Prominent Emirati columnist, investor, and art aficionado; go-to source for breaking news from the Arab world.

Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) — Diplomatic correspondent for Haaretz. Scoop machine.

Mahmoud Salem (@Sandmonkey) — Foul-mouthed Egyptian revolutionary blogger and son of a former ruling-party parliamentarian, based in Cairo.

Liz Sly (@LizSly) — Beirut-based correspondent for the Washington Post. Essential on Syria.

Brian Whitaker (@Brian_Whit) — Middle East editor for the Guardian and a keen analyst of regional politics and trends.

Mahir Zeynalov (@MahirZeynalov) — Istanbul-based journalist for Today’s Zaman.

ABBAS MOMANI/AFP/GettyImages

AFRICA

Africa Is a Country (@africaisacountry) — Opinionated group feed of various Africa hands.

Scott Baldauf (@baldaufji) — Africa bureau chief for the Christian Science Monitor.

Ian Birrell (@ianbirrell) — Former deputy editor at the Independent and David Cameron speechwriter; now a columnist and the co-founder of Africa Express music project.

Teju Cole (@Tejucole) — Nigerian-born novelist who hops between Lagos and Brooklyn.

Howard French (@hofrench) — Journalism professor; former New York Times correspondent in Africa and China.

Andrew Mwenda (@AndrewMwenda) — Managing editor of Uganda’s Independent magazine; aid critic.

Lydia Polgreen (@lpolgreen) — New York Times bureau chief in Johannesburg, formerly in New Delhi.

U.S. Embassy Pretoria (@usembpretoria) — America’s diplomatic mission to South Africa; puts out a surprisingly good all-purpose Africa feed.

Binyavanga Wainaina (@BinyavangaW) — Acid-tongued Kenyan author and director of the Chinua Achebe Center for African Writers and Artists at Bard College.

TONY KARUMBA/AFP/GettyImages

LATIN AMERICA

Randy Archibold (@rcarchiboldNYT) — New York Times correspondent in Central America.

Mariano Castillo (@marianoCNN) — CNN’s Latin America news desk editor. A good all-purpose feed.

Damien Cave (@damiencave) — New York Times correspondent in Mexico.

Gabriel Elizondo (@elizondogabriel) — Brazil correspondent for Al Jazeera English, based in São Paulo.

YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/GettyImages

ASIA

Ai Weiwei (@aiwwenglish) — The English-language feed of China’s most famous dissident artist.

Bill Bishop (@niubi) — Beijing-based investor, blogger, and all-around China watcher. (Not to be confused with @NiuB, another good feed for China news.)

Gady Epstein (@gadyepstein) — Wickedly funny Beijing correspondent for the Economist, formerly with Forbes.

Kim Jong Number Un (@KimJongNumberUn) — Cheeky fake feed of North Korea’s new leader.

Tom Lasseter (@TomLasseter) — McClatchy’s well-traveled Beijing bureau chief.

Jean Lee (@newsjean) — AP Korea bureau chief and the only journalist to tweet (semi-) regularly from Pyongyang.

Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) — Peripatetic Asia correspondent for Canada’s Globe and Mail.

Evan Osnos (@eosnos) — Staff writer for the New Yorker; former Beijing bureau chief and Middle East correspondent for the Chicago Tribune.

The Relevant Organs (@relevantorgans) — Hilarious fake feed satirizing the Chinese government.

Hiroko Tabuchi (@HirokoTabuchi) — Tokyo correspondent for the New York Times, tweeting on everything from high-tech to high art.

STRDEL/AFP/GettyImages

SOUTH ASIA

C. Christine Fair (@CChristineFair) — Georgetown University assistant professor, dog lover, and sharp-tongued South Asia expert.

Sadanand Dhume (@dhume01) — South Asia analyst at the American Enterprise Institute.

Arif Rafiq (@pakistanpolicy) — Pakistani-American analyst, consultant, and blogger based in New York.

Bilal Sarwary (@bsarwary) — BBC reporter based in Kabul. A go-to source for breaking news from Afghanistan.

Declan Walsh (@declanwalsh) — Pakistan correspondent for the New York Times.

Omar Waraich (@OmarWaraich) — Freelance journalist based in Islamabad.

WONKS

Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman) — National security correspondent for Wired‘s Danger Room; tweets on everything from Afghanistan policy to punk rock to the New York Yankees.

J.M. Berger (@intelwire) — A high-volume, high-energy feed focused primarily on counterterrorism, from a Boston-based journalist.

Joe Cirincione (@Cirincione) — President of the Ploughshares Fund, expert on nonproliferation issues, and recovering Red Sox fan.

Michael Clemens (@m_clem) — Wide-ranging scholar at the Center for Global Development.

Andrew Exum (@abumuqawama) — Former Army Ranger, blogger, and counterinsurgency guru at the Center for a New American Security.

Joshua Foust (@joshuafoust) — Irascible former intelligence analyst, blogger, and expert on South and Central Asia; unforgiving media critic.

Will McCants (@will_mccants) — Former counterterrorism analyst at the State Department; now an expert at CNA.

Tom Murphy (@viewfromthecave) — A Boston-based aid consultant and blogger whose feed provides a useful clearinghouse for news and views on aid and international development.

Anne-Marie Slaughter (@SlaughterAM) — Professor at Princeton University and former head of Policy Planning at the State Department.

Micah Zenko (@MicahZenko) — Analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations; drone critic.

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

TURTLE BAY

Lou Charbonneau (@lou_reuters) — Reuters reporter at the United Nations.

Mark Leon Goldberg (@MarkLGoldberg) — Blogger for the United Nations Foundation’s UN Dispatch, which covers the inner workings of Turtle Bay and Foggy Bottom.

Matthew Lee (@innercitypress) — Eccentric but comprehensive U.N. coverage.

SEBASTIEN FEVAL/AFP/GettyImages

GEEKS

Mikko H. Hypponen (@mikko) — Finnish cybersecurity expert.

Zeynep Tufekci (@techsoc) — Turkish-born blogger and academic authority on social media.

Trevor Timm (@trevortimm) — Activist and blogger at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Ethan Zuckerman (@EthanZ) — Co-founder of the social media network Global Voices, now at MIT’s Media Lab.

EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/GettyImages

PLUS: FP’ERS WHO TWEET

Also available as a Twitter list

Foreign Policy (@FP_Magazine) — The official Foreign Policy feed.

AfPak Channel (@afpakchannel) — The latest on Afghanistan and Pakistan from the New America Foundation in partnership with Foreign Policy.

Democracy Lab (@Democracy_Lab) — Tracking the rise and fall of democracy around the world; a special project with the Legatum Institute.

FPElection2012 (@FPelection2012) — Our channel on foreign policy and the U.S. presidential election.

Middle East Channel (@MideastChannel) — The latest on the Middle East from Foreign Policy and the Project on Middle East Political Science.

P.J. Aroon (@pjaroonFP) — FP copy chief; tweets about women and typos.

David Bosco (@multilateralist) — FP contributing editor and blogger; U.N. expert and author of Five to Rule Them All.

Christian Caryl (@ccaryl) — Editor of FP’s Democracy Lab (@Democracy_Lab).

Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) — Fellow at the Century Foundation, author of Live from the Campaign Trail, and FP Election 2012 columnist.

Michael Dobbs (@michaeldobbs) — Award-winning journalist and U.S. Holocaust Museum fellow live-blogging for the trial of Ratko Mladic for ForeignPolicy.com.

Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) — Professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and writer of an eponymous blog.

Isaac Stone Fish (@isaacstonefish) — Associate editor with a focus on China.

Uri Friedman (@UriLF) — Associate editor.

David E. Hoffman (@thedeadhandbook) — Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former foreign editor of the Washington Post; Foreign Policy contributing editor and blogger.

Blake Hounshell (@blakehounshell) — Managing editor.

Joshua E. Keating (@joshuakeating) — Associate editor.

David Kenner (@DavidKenner) — Associate editor.

Charles Kenny (@charlesjkenny) — Former World Bank economist; now an FP columnist and fellow at the New America Foundation; author of Getting Better.

Christina Larson (@larsonchristina) — Contributing editor at Foreign Policy and freelance journalist based in China.

Steve LeVine (@stevelevine) — Author of The Oil and the Glory; blogs on the geopolitics of energy for Foreign Policy.

Colum Lynch (@columlynch) — Washington Post U.N. correspondent and Turtle Bay blogger.

Marc Lynch (@abuaardvark) — Associate professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University and Middle East blogger.

Rebecca MacKinnon (@rmack) — Former Beijing bureau chief for CNN focusing on global Internet policy; fellow at the New America Foundation and an FP columnist.

Benjamin Pauker (@BenPauker) — Senior editor.

Clyde Prestowitz (@clydeprestowitz) FP‘s resident trade blogger and president of the Economic Strategy Institute.

Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) — Staff writer and Cable blogger.

MARK RALSTON/AFP/GettyImages