Sami Moubayed

Sami Moubayed is a Syrian historian and author of Under the Black Flag (IB Tauris, 2015). He is a former Carnegie scholar and founding chairman of the Damascus History Foundation.

Author Articles

Biggest winner. A Russian soldier (C) places the national flag at the Abu Duhur crossing on the eastern edge of Idlib, September 25. (AFP)
The 2018 winners and losers in Syria war
December 15, 2018
Educational outreach. A Syrian refugee girl holds a Russian ABC-book during a meeting of Syrian refugees in Losino-Petrovsky, about 50km north-east of Moscow. (AP)
Russia bolsters its outreach in Syria amid struggle for influence
December 08, 2018
Conflicting agendas. Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar (L) speaks with US Secretary of Defence James Mattis during a NATO meeting in Brussels, on October 4. (Reuters)
Trump walks tightrope between Turkish, Kurdish allies
November 24, 2018
Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri arrives for a news conference at his official residence in Beirut. (Dalati & Nohra/dpa)
Deadlock in Lebanon over representation of Sunnis in government
November 17, 2018
A poster of Syrian President Bashar Assad, half-covered by a national flag, hangs at the border crossing point of Jdedeh Yabous, Syria, last August. (AP)
Iran spectre, reconstruction cost could boost GCC role in Syria
November 10, 2018
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi addresses the Iraqi parliament during the vote on the new government, on October 24. (AFP)
Iraqi prime minister tested by early balancing acts
November 03, 2018
Mixed legacy. A 2017 file picture shows UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura arriving for a news conference closing a round of Syrian peace talks in Geneva. (AFP)
Exit of UN special envoy for Syria heralds new phase
October 27, 2018
A participant attends the opening of the Syria rebuilding exhibition at the fair grounds in Damascus, on October 2. (AP)
Damascus’s push for soft power legitimacy
October 13, 2018
Syrian President Bashar Assad (C), Grand Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Badr al-Din Hassoun (R) and Minister of Awqaf Mohammad Abdul Sattar al-Sayyed arrive to attend prayers at Khadija Mosque in Tartus city, last June. (Syrian Presidency)
Proposed law puts Syria’s religious diversity at risk
October 06, 2018
Iranian President Hassan Rohani (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin attend a news conference in Tehran, on September 7. (AP)
Russia-Iran rivalries over Syria’s future
September 29, 2018
Lebanese President Michel Aoun addresses the European Parliament in Strasbourg, on September 11. (Reuters)
Lebanese president’s health fuels growing uncertainties, speculation about successor
September 22, 2018
Hezbollah supporters carry flags and a picture of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and leader of Yemen’s Houthi movement Abdelmalik al-Houthi in Beirut. (Reuters)
Houthis’ visit to Beirut stirs division and controversy
September 08, 2018
Massing forces. Turkish forces are seen in a convoy on a highway between Damascus and Aleppo near Syria’s Idlib province, on August 29. (AFP)
Will Turkey abandon its proxies in Idlib?
September 01, 2018
Members of the Lebanese security forces check the identity cards of Syrian refugees as they head to their homes in Syria’s Qalamoun region after leaving Arsal. (AFP)
Russia makes public push for the return of Syria’s refugees
August 18, 2018
A Syrian woman talks on a mobile phone next to a poster of President Bashar Assad with Arabic that reads, “Assad has Triumphed,” in Damascus. (AP)
Russia takes the initiative at Astana talks in Sochi
August 11, 2018
Pragmatism trumps nationalism. Syrian Kurds march with a sign reading in Arabic “Afrin is the grave of Erdogan” in Al-Muabbadah in the north-eastern Hasakah province, last February. (AFP)
Realistic Kurds seeking ‘honourable’ surrender in talks with Damascus
August 04, 2018
Control of the Bekaa. A campaign poster for Jamil al-Sayyed at Dahr al-Baidar area in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley, on April 25. (AFP)
Growing tension in Lebanon’s Bekaa fuels conflict within Shia bloc
July 21, 2018
Competing voices. Lebanese Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil (R) talks with Prime Minister Saad Hariri (C) during a cabinet meeting in Beirut, on March 12. (Reuters)
Factional horse trading slows naming of Lebanese cabinet
July 07, 2018
New Sunni reality. Faisal Karami, scion of the Karami political family. (Lebanese Ministry of Information)
New Sunni opposition, supported by Hezbollah, challenges Hariri
June 30, 2018
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri at the Kremlin in Moscow, on June 13. (Reuters)
Moscow offers to play peacemaker between Beirut and Damascus
June 23, 2018