Bouthaina Shaaban | |
|---|---|
بثينة شعبان | |
.jpg) Shaaban in Iran, 2023 | |
| Political and Media Adviser to thePresidency of theSyrian Arab Republic | |
| In office 2008 – 8 December 2024 | |
| President | Bashar al-Assad |
| 1stMinister of Expatriates | |
| In office 2002 – 30 July 2008 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Sweid |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1953 (age 71–72) |
| Political party | Ba'ath Party |
| Spouse | Khalil Jawad |
| Children | 3 |
Bouthaina Shaaban (Arabic:بثينة شعبان; born 1953) is a Syrian politician who served as political and media adviser to the presidency underBashar al-Assad untilhis overthrow in 2024. Shaaban had also previously served as the firstMinister of Expatriates for theSyrian Arab Republic, between 2002 and 2008,[2] and was described as the Syrian government's face to the outside world at the time.[3]
Shaaban was born in 1953 to anAlawite family[4] inMasudiyah,Homs. She has been a member of theSyrian Regional Branch of theArab Socialist Ba'ath Party since the age of 16. She was educated inBritain and obtained her Ph.D. inEnglish literature from theUniversity of Warwick.[5] Shaaban is married to Iraqi Dr. Khalil Jawad. The couple have two daughters and a son.[2]
Shaaban worked first as an interpreter for the Syrian presidentsHafez al-Assad andBashar al-Assad, his son.[3] Under Hafez she became an "adviser to the Foreign Ministry,"[3] and in 2003 she was named Minister of Expatriates, "a new post created to try to lure wealthy Syrian expatriates abroad — or at least their resources — back home."[3] In 2008, she was appointed political and media adviser to president Bashar al-Assad. Between 1985 and 2003 she was also the professor ofRomantic poetry at the English department ofDamascus University.[2]
Shaaban was particularly visible in English-speaking media after the Valentine's Day 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime MinisterRafiq Hariri, when she participated in several television interviews and wrote several op-ed pieces attacking theUnited Nations probe into Syrian involvement in the murder and insisted thatIsrael and theUnited States were responsible for Hariri's assassination.[6] In August 2011, the US sanctioned Shaaban with 5 other Syrian officials.[7]
She is the author ofBoth Right and Left Handed: Arab Women Talk About Their Lives (1988), a book composed mostly of interviews with Syrian, Lebanese, Palestinian, and Algerian women. In this study, Shaaban invited Arab women to talk openly about their lives and the roles of women in their societies, how they feel they've changed through different times of war and crisis, and what they think the future holds for Arab women.[8] Another of her books published in English is her study of Arab female writersVoices revealed: Arab women novelists, 1898-2000.[9]
In his article of 2012, "Failing the masses: Buthaina Shabaan and the public intellectual crisis", A. Al-Saleh described her public image like this: "The shift of Shabaan from being a feminist to serving the propaganda of the regime has damaged her integrity as an intellectual."[10]
Shaaban's rise within theBa'athist Syrian government was speculated to be due to her close friendship withBushra Al-Assad, daughter of Hafez al-Assad. Sometime in the late 1980s, Shaaban also introduced Bushra to her future husbandAssef Shawkat.[11]
During theSyrian Civil War, Shaaban mentioned in January 2020 that the Syrian economy is "50 times better than 2011", despite the deterioration of the value of theSyrian pound against U.S. dollar.[12] Later on, she said that Syrians have no choice but "patience and steadfastness" upon the implementation of theCaesar Act.[13]
She remained part of the Ba'athist government until its end, serving as Political and Media Adviser toBashar al-Assad untilhis overthrow in 2024.
It was reported that during thefall of Damascus in 2024, PresidentBashar al-Assad kept his plans to flee the country secret from most officials, including members ofhis own family. According to reports, Assad contacted Shaaban, asking her to come to his residence to prepare a written statement. However, upon her arrival, she found the residence abandoned.[14]
The day after the collapse of theBa'athist regime, Shaaban was reportedly seen inDubai, as figures of the ousted regime had fled Syria to escape potential prosecution.[15]
In 2005, Shaaban was presented with "the Most Distinguished Woman in a Governmental Position" award by theArab League.
