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

A general view shows Syrian regime representatives, opposition delegates and other attendees as they take part in the plenary session of Syria peace talks in Astana, on May 15. (AFP)
Russia looks to regain leverage at Astana talks
May 19, 2018
A man arranges sweets to be sold ahead of Ramadan in Douma, the principal town in Eastern Ghouta. (Reuters)
Ramadan brings little but misery for those trapped in Syria’s rubble
May 12, 2018
Confiscated lives. An elderly Syrian man on a wheelchair makes his way in Douma, last October. (AFP)
New housing law heralds a re-engineered Syria
May 05, 2018
Fighters from the US-backed Syrian Manbij Military Council stand next to a US Humvee at an outpost, north of Manbij. (AP)
US seeks Kurdish accommodation ahead of withdrawal
April 21, 2018
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (R) and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu attend a meeting on Syria in Astana, on March 16. (AFP)
For Syria, international compromise drives internal partition
March 31, 2018
Electoral billboards for the upcoming 2018 May parliamentary elections in Lebanon by the largely Shia Amal movement with a tagline reading in Arabic “Your vote is a hope (Amal) for the borders.” (AFP)
Out with the old, in with the new: Lebanon’s elections promise changing of the guard
March 24, 2018
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gestures as he delivers a speech during a rally of his ruling Justice and Development Party’s supporters in Mersin, on March. (AP)
Suspension of Turkish soaps is a blow to Erdogan and his neo-Ottomanism
March 17, 2018
Women from the family of Umm Saeed grind corn using a traditional method in Saqba in Eastern Ghouta.(AFP)
History is repeating itself in the cruellest ways in Eastern Ghouta
March 10, 2018
Members of Syrian government forces stand at the Wafideen checkpoint on the outskirts of Damascus near the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta region, on February 27.(AFP)
Syria’s truce likely to go the way of other ceasefires
March 03, 2018
A convoy of pro-Syrian government fighters arrive in Syria’s northern region of Afrin, on February 20.(AFP)
Great powers trade Kurds and territory in Syria’s splintering conflict
February 24, 2018
A family member kisses the flag-covered coffin of a Turkish soldier after his funeral prayers in Izmir, on February 11. (AP)
Turkish advance stumbles in Syria’s Afrin
February 17, 2018
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov gives a speech during a plenary session at the Congress of Syrian National Dialogue in Sochi, on January 30. (AFP)
Mixed results at Sochi as peace drive changes dynamics
February 03, 2018
Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun (R), Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri (2nd R) and parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (L) attend a parade at a military academy in Fayadyeh near Beirut, last August. (Reuters)
Feud between president and speaker threatens Lebanon’s March 8 alliance
February 03, 2018
Al-Qaeda’s roots stretch beyond bin Laden’s seed
January 22, 2018

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hariri treads precarious paths between rival camps
January 22, 2018

Ahed Tamimi provides powerful icon but also distraction from real issues
January 15, 2018

Russia-backed Syrian Army encircling Turkish troops in Idlib
January 09, 2018

UN talks on Syria fail unmourned in Geneva
January 05, 2018

Paris conference tries to help Lebanon after Hariri crisis
December 18, 2017

Future of Assad stumbling block in Geneva talks but Russia still calling the shots on Syria
December 02, 2017

Beirut- Concerns over an early col­lapse in the eighth round of the Syrian peace talks proved wel