0:00 Intro

2:12 1999-2000

8:37 Post-War Sovereignty

18:03 Certainty

27:19 The Wider Story

40:10 Memories of My Father

We're with Amb. Frederic C. Hof for Episode 254 of The Beirut Banyan.

Click to watch:

https://youtu.be/Yt93xZ3KML0

We discuss his recent Newlines Magazine piece: 'Assad: The Shebaa Farms Are Syrian, Whatever Hezbollah Claims' and revisit previous US efforts at securing a peace deal between Syria and Israel.

Our conversation includes Lebanon's position during these talks, and why post-civil war sovereignty never in fact took hold. We also reflect on Amb. Hof's memories of my father while he was mediating between Lebanon and Israel over offshore oil reserves.

Ambassador Frederic C. Hof is Diplomat in Residence at Bard College and Former Director and Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. He was also Former US Special Envoy to Syria.

The article referenced in this episode is accessible below:

https://newlinesmag.com/first-person/assad-the-shebaa-farms-are-syrian-whatever-hezbollah-claims/

Additional career info below as per Bard College's bio:

Hof was previously the special coordinator for regional affairs in the US Department of State's Office of the Special Envoy for Middle East Peace, where he advised Special Envoy George Mitchell on the full range of Arab-Israeli peace issues falling under his purview and focusing on Syria-Israel and Israel-Lebanon matters. He joined the State Department in 2009 after serving as the president and CEO of AALC, an international business consulting and project finance firm formerly known as Armitage Associates LC. A graduate of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, Hof began his professional career as an Army officer. He is a Vietnam veteran and served as a US Army Middle East Foreign Area Officer, studying Arabic at the Foreign Service Institute in Tunisia and receiving a master's degree from the Naval Postgraduate School. He served as US Army attaché in Beirut, Lebanon and later in the Office of the Secretary of Defense as director for Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Palestinian Affairs. He has written extensively on the Middle East and diplomacy. His awards include the Purple Heart, the Department of State Superior Honor Award, the Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Medal, and the Defense Superior Service Medal.

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Music by Marc Codsi. Animation & illustration by Sana Chaaban.