Bouthaina Shaaban is a Syrian intellectual, author, politician and diplomat, currently serving as the political and media advisor to the President of Syria. Dr Shaaban was the first Minister of Expatriates for the Syrian Arab Republic between 2003 and 2008 and is often described as the Syrian Government's face to the outside world. Dr Shaaban worked first as interpreter for the Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, and under his administration she became advisor to the Foreign Ministry before her appointment as Minister of Expatriates. In 2008, she became political and media advisor to President Bashar al-Assad. Dr Shaaban has been a powerful and much admired advocate of Syrian sovereignty and Palestinian liberation. She has been a passionate critic of predatory globalism in all its forms, especially since the regime change war in her country was ignited by the US and UK in 2011.
