Robin Lustig studied politics at the University of Sussex and began his journalistic career as a Reuters correspondent in Madrid, Paris and Rome. He then spent twelve years at The Observer as news reporter, news editor, Middle East correspondent, home affairs editor and assistant editor before moving into broadcasting in 1989. He presented The World Tonight on BBC Radio 4 and Newshour on the BBC World Service, for whom he covered several major world events including the reunification of Germany in 1990, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997 and the 9/11 attacks in 2001. He left the BBC in 2012, received the Charles Wheeler award for outstanding contribution to broadcast journalism in 2013, and was named Independent Blogger of the Year in 2014.