American Diplomacy Toward Lebanon

David Hale previously served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (United States Government), with global responsibilities. He was American Ambassador to Pakistan, Lebanon, and Jordan and Special Envoy for Middle East Peace and holds the lifetime rank of Career Ambassador. Now a global fellow at the Wilson Center, he focusses on the Middle East and South Asia.

• ForewordIntroduction: America and LebanonChapter 1: American Diplomacy and Lebanese Independence, 1943-45Chapter 2: Ike Intervenes, 1958Chapter 3: The Brown Mission and Red Lines, 1976Chapter 4: Reagan Meant Well, 1982-84Chapter 5: Syria First, 1993-2000Chapter 6: The Freedom Agenda, 2004-08Chapter 7: Since 2008: Lebanon in ParalysisBibliographyIndex

There is no dearth of books, policy briefs, and reports about Lebanon and its multiple crises. Yet, none provides anywhere near the scope and depth of analysis about the formulation and implementation of U.S. Lebanon policy as David Hale’s excellent book. Mr. Hale has been involved with U.S. policymaking on Lebanon for many years and provides an insider’s perspective of “America’s oscillations in policies and levels of activity” concerning Lebanon. This is a must-read book for scholars of Lebanon and the Levant, of U.S. policy in the Levant, and for practitioners of crisis management and conflict resolution. Most of all, Lebanese must read this book to understand the evolution of U.S. policy vis-à-vis their country, what the U.S. did or did not do at critical episodes in their country’s political trajectory, and the main drivers of those decisions and actions.