Nour Samaha Email and Phone Number

• Visiting Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, with an expertise on Syria, Lebanon, Israel-Palestine. Produced commentaries and policy briefs for EU states on the situation inside Syria.• Consultant and researcher on business due diligence projects exploring investment opportunities in Lebanon and Syria• Produce policy briefs and recommendations on Syria and Lebanon• Produce in-depth coverage, reports, investigations, and long-form feature writing that contextualizes the intricate relationships and state of affairs in key Middle East hot spots. Numerous deployments across the region, including fieldwork and reporting from the frontlines in Syria, Iraq, and Gaza that produced first of its kind work ranging from war profiteering in Syria, to Israel quietly funding and supporting Syrian militant groups.• Writings – ranging from reports, investigations, commentaries to political analyses - published in top tier outlets such as The Century Foundation, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, The Intercept, and Al Jazeera, among many others.• Propose policy initiatives for governmental, intergovernmental, political, and nongovernmental stakeholders to address and resolve sources of conflict. Cultivate and manage relationships with network of contacts with governments (up to cabinet-level), political, economic, military and social actors, and international stake-holders.• Manage television, radio, and print media efforts. Regularly analyze issues on high-profile media outlets, including the BBC, Sky News, and Al Jazeera, among others. Guest speaker at academic and policy institutions on media issues and current affairs in the region.• Manage high-level educational and consulting efforts with Western and Middle Eastern governments, think tanks, NGOs, universities, and blue-chip multinational corporations.

Managed a 15-member team of reporters, bloggers, copy editors, translators, interns, and freelancers dedicated to producing exclusive content from across the Middle East. Supervised two primary functions: A news portal providing original and unique coverage to otherwise underreported stories, and a translation service for its sister company, Al Akhbar – one of Lebanon’s leading Arabic-language daily newspapers.• Under my leadership, the news site tripled its users and page views in a nine-month period. Trained reporters and copy editors on key methods of news coverage. Oversaw their development of raw copy to a publishable standard.• Regularly produced investigative and analytical reports within tight deadlines on topics ranging from suicide bombings in Beirut, to the plight of millions of Syrian refugees across Lebanon.• Managed key administrative duties such as invoicing, payroll, liaising with different departments to enhance cohesion, and creating and managing accessible lines of open communication amongst staff members.

• Produced wide-ranging coverage on the Middle East, with on-the-ground access and special reports on key hotspots, including but not limited to: Palestinians under increasing attacks from Israeli settlers; one of Iran’s most influential political families on the eve of the 2013 elections; and UAE’s imprisonment and hunger strike of foreign nationals.• Regularly deployed for live news coverage and conflict reporting across the region. Produced a variety of exclusive dispatches, including but not limited to: The plight of Palestinian children during Israel’s 2012 military offensive in Gaza; Protests and counter-protests during the height of President Mohamed Morsi’s power in post-revolutionary Egypt; and Hezbollah’s increased popular support on the ground in Lebanon after attacks from Israel and ISIS.• Extensive experience working in a 24/7 newsroom. Created breaking news, concise reports, daily news coverage, end-of- day wraps, and video packages for online viewers.

•In-house writer and editor on all of the policy memos, reports, summaries, and newsletters.•Worked closely with academics and policy-makers alike to formulate policy papers. Topic included Palestinian refugee camps, environmental hazards, the UN, youth issues.

• Key player and one of the first reporters hired to create and launch The National, which successfully published its first issue mid-April 2008.• Exclusive front page reports related to education, health, politics, gender, transport, environment.• Deployment to Lebanon for elections and post-war reconstruction coverage.

• Extensive coverage on 2006 war with Israel, Dec 2006 opposition demonstration and sit-in, Jan 2007 political clashes, string of bombings, July 2007 Nahr el-Bared conflict, as well as post-war redevelopment, political issues, and youth• Developed a wide-range of contacts within a number of differing fields, ranging from academia, politics, the UN, the army, NGOs, and the different political factions