About the Authors
Lina Khatib is head of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House, where she also leads the project ‘Syria From Within’ (syria.chathamhouse.org). She was formerly director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, and co-founding head of the Program on Arab Reform and Democracy at Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law. Her research focuses on the international relations of the Middle East, Islamist groups, security, political transitions and foreign policy, with special attention to the Syrian conflict. She is a research associate at SOAS, University of London, was a senior research associate at the Arab Reform Initiative, and lectured at Royal Holloway, University of London. She has published seven books and also written widely on public diplomacy, political communication and political participation in the Middle East. She is a frequent commentator on politics and security in the Middle East and North Africa, both at events around the world and in the media.
Lina Sinjab is a BBC correspondent based in Beirut. She also contributes to several international media outlets and is a consulting senior fellow with Chatham House’s ‘Syria From Within’ project. She recently served as Middle East regional editor at the BBC World Service. Lina has extensively covered the Syrian uprising since its beginnings in 2011, and continues to follow developments in Syria and the region. In 2014 and 2016 she covered the Syria peace talks in Geneva as the BBC’s world affairs reporter; before that, from 2007, she was the BBC’s Damascus-based correspondent. Prior to joining the BBC, Lina was a contributor to many media outlets, including Newsweek and the New York Times. She holds a degree in English from Damascus University, read law at the Beirut Arab University, and holds an MA in international politics from SOAS, University of London. In May 2013, she won the International Media Cutting Edge Award for her coverage of Syria.