Strauss began his career as a British print journalist who spent many years working in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq and other war zones.
In 2002, he was posted to Moscow as the Daily Telegraph's bureau chief, from where he covered Putin's Russia and various Chechen crises.
In 2017 he returned to Russia, Ukraine and Georgia with Thomas Dworzak of Magnum Photos to retrace the 1947 steps of John Steinbeck and Robert Capa.
He writes his own newsletter backtothefront.substack.com which includes field dispatches, comment and analysis on Ukraine, Russia, Afghanistan, the Balkans and eastern Europe.
Strauss also lectures university-level students in Hungary and Transylvania and runs a charity programme for wounded and sick military veterans.