London (United Kingdom), 1969

Except for six months in Beirut, Yassin-Kassab grew up in England and Scotland. He is a prestigious and rigorous commentator on Syria and the Middle East, where he was a longtime English teacher. He is the author of The Road From Damascus, published in several languages. His reports on Syria and his book reviews have appeared in The Guardian, National, Foreign Policy, The Daily Beast, Newsweek, and Al Jazeera among other media, and has collaborated with the BBC, Channel 4, and Al Jazeera. He is also a co-editor and regular contributor to PULSE, ranked by Le Monde Diplomatique as one of the five best-informed websites in the world.