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  • Analysis
  • How Lebanon can be Trump’s first success in a troubled region

    External Publication

    October 14, 2026

    David Hale
    David Hale

    Governance, Reform, and State Capacity, US Policy in the Middle East, Lebanon

    The Trump administration has done more than any of its predecessors to restore sovereignty for a much traumatized nation, Lebanon. The Israel Defense Forces’ operations in 2024 against Hezbollah decimated that organization, long the “A Team” in global terror.

    With Lebanon no longer under the shadow of Iranian and Hezbollah dominance, a pro-sovereignty Lebanese president and prime minister came to office. They want to do what none of their predecessors would do: restore the Lebanese state’s monopoly of arms and control of its borders, regain power from Iran’s proxy, and remove from Tehran the decisions of war and peace in Lebanon.

    Read More in The Hill

    Photo by AFP via Getty Images

     


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