Lebanon Working Group

First initiated in 2007 to respond to Lebanon’s vast reconstruction needs following the summer 2006 war with Israel, the Lebanon Working Group (LWG) has evolved significantly over the past few years. Its focus has expanded considerably from reconstruction to many of the complex issues embodied in Lebanon’s civil and regional conflicts. Work in the LWG will continue with this multi-faceted focus in mind. Over the following 12 months (beginning October 2009), the project will sponsor several working group meetings, attracting a broad range of Lebanon analysts and policy-makers, both inside and outside the government. The meetings will continue to feature speakers with deep expertise in the numerous issues that come to bear on Lebanon. To date, LWG meetings, which have been extremely well-received by the policy-making community in particular, have highlighted a number of interesting voices not often heard in Washington, whether from Beirut or new and different Washington-based perspectives. In addition to these meetings, the project will produce both short and long analyses reflecting Lebanon’s complexities and endeavor to provide a platform for a variety of perspectives. Contacts have been made with the new Obama administration as well as deepened on the Hill. Particular effort will be made to nurture these relationships by providing briefings, meeting notes, and serving as a resource for queries.

Strong relationships have also been forged with Washington-based groups including the Search for Common Ground where Mona Yacoubian has been invited to serve on the Middle East Advisory Board. Ms. Yacoubian also anticipates continued close consultation and collaboration with the National Democratic Institute (NDI) which earlier in the year invited her to be part of both its pre-election and election observation missions in Lebanon. She has also been asked to serve on the Advisory Board of Catholic Relief Services’ Beirut office which is initiating a new project entitled Early Warning/Early Response which endeavors to give civil society a more active role in preventing violence. Ms. Yacoubian has also explored potential future collaboration with the newly-established Safadi Foundation-USA, the U.S. branch of a Lebanese NGO.

• Goal 1: To increase the breadth and depth of knowledge about developments in Lebanon among the foreign policy community.
• Goal 2: To facilitate interaction among Lebanese analysts and experts and to build bridges between U.S. officials and experts.
• Goal 3: To develop proposals, ideas, and policy recommendations designed to prevent conflict within Lebanon and across its borders.