Sam van Vliet (1982) holds an MA in Anthropology and in Religion Studies (2009) from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He has worked in cultural, diplomatic, humanitarian and academic sectors with a consistent focus on the Middle East. Since 2008, he lived for different periods in Syria, Palestine, Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq, developing a proficient working knowledge of Arabic. Van Vliet contributed to various research studies related to the Arab uprisings and conflict developments in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. From 2010, he managed various humanitarian response programs to migration and refugee crises in Yemen and Lebanon, but since 2014 he has been engaged in the field of conflict transformation, sociopolitical analysis and humanitarian advocacy. He currently heads the advocacy team at Doctors of the World in the Netherlands.