Track II Diplomacy: A Lebanon - Israel Case Study with Ambassador Frederic C. Hof
Event | Available (Membership Required)
Track II diplomacy involves discussions among retired senior officials, academics, religious leaders, NGO officials, and the like aimed at bringing new ideas to official diplomacy. Since July 2025 Ambassador Fred Hof has been involved in a Track II project seeking to promote direct negotiations between two countries – Lebanon and Israel – that have officially been in a state of war since 1948. In this lecture Ambassador Hof will discuss the troubled history of relations between Israel and Lebanon and how he and a Canadian colleague have tried to build a foundation for official talks and peace between them.
Frederic C. Hof
Ambassador Frederic C. Hof was an Army officer (Vietnam veteran), diplomat, private sector CEO, think tank executive, and professor. He served as a military attaché in civil war Lebanon and later as the mediator between Syria and Israel from 2009-2011. He is the author of Reaching for the Heights: The Inside Story of a Secret Attempt to Reach a Syrian-Israeli Peace (U.S. Institute of Peace, 2022). Among his awards from the Departments of State and Defense is the Purple Heart.
Mary McClellan
Producer, Class Manager