As pressure on Iran and its proxies mounts, a strategic opening has emerged in Lebanon, one that Washington and its partners are uniquely positioned to seize. In the wake of the US-Israeli-Lebanese Trilateral Framework for peace, and amid the continued conflict with Tehran, the United States has an unprecedented opportunity to help secure a sovereign Lebanese state, broker further Israel-Lebanon agreements, and consolidate hard-won gains against Iran.
Join Congressman Darin LaHood, MEI Distinguished Diplomatic Fellow Ambassador David Hale, MEI Senior Fellow Dr. Fadi Nicholas Nassar, and MEI Lebanon expert Dr. Patricia Karam, for a conversation on how Washington and its regional partners can turn this moment to lasting advantage. The discussion will assess where Lebanon stands after the Trilateral Framework, the tools available to set the country on a path to sovereignty and peace, and what it will take to hold spoilers accountable and convert a fragile opening into an enduring strategic success.
Speaker Biographies
Congressman Darin LaHood (IL-16) is serving his fifth full term in Congress, representing the 16th Congressional District of Illinois, which spans 21 counties across central and northwestern Illinois, including Peoria, Bloomington-Normal, Rockford, and Galena. He serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. LaHood is the Chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Work and Welfare and the Intelligence Committee’s National Security Agency and Cyber Subcommittee. LaHood, a third generation Peorian, graduated from Spalding High School. He earned a B.A. from Loras College and holds a J.D. from the University of Illinois-Chicago John Marshall Law School. Congressman LaHood and his wife Kristen currently reside in Peoria and are the proud parents of three sons, McKay, Lucas, and Teddy.
Ambassador David Hale is a Career Ambassador and Distinguished Diplomatic Fellow at the Middle East Institute. Ambassador Hale previously served as US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs; US Ambassador to Pakistan, Lebanon, and Jordan; and Special Envoy for Middle East Peace. He is the author of American Diplomacy Toward Lebanon: Lessons in Foreign Policy and the Middle East, published by Bloomsbury/I.B. Tauris in February 2024.
Dr. Fadi Nicholas Nassar is a Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute specializing in US foreign policy, state capacity in fragile states, and the geopolitics of the Levant. His work focuses on how international policy, local politics, and regional power dynamics shape the survival, reform, and recovery of states under crisis. From 2019 to 2025, he worked on the ground in Lebanon through the country’s financial collapse, the 2020 Beirut Port explosion, and the conflict between Hizballah and Israel.
Dr. Patricia Karam (Moderator) is a Washington-based policy expert and strategic advisor specializing in Lebanon, Iran, and US policy toward the Middle East. She serves as Senior Advisor to the Middle East Institute, Non-Resident Fellow at Arab Center Washington DC, and previously served as Vice President for Policy and Communications at the American Task Force on Lebanon. Her work focuses on Lebanese sovereignty and state institutions, regional security and geopolitics, governance, and US policy toward the Middle East.
Achieving a Permanent End to the Israel-Lebanon Conflict
