In the mid-1980s, Lieven a journalist with the "Financial Times" covering Pakistan and Afghanistan, while also covering India as a freelancer. In the latter half of 1989, he covered the revolutions in Czechoslovakia and Romania for the "Times". In 1990, he worked for "The Times" (London) covering the former USSR, during which time he covered the Chechen War (1994-1996). In 1996, Lieven became a visiting senior fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace through 1997. In 1998, he edited "Strategic Comments" at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, while also working for the Eastern Services of the BBC.