Lebanon–United States relations

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Lebanon–United States relations
Map indicating locations of Lebanon and USA

Lebanon
United States

Lebanon–United States relations (

Arabic: العلاقات الأمريكية اللبنانية) are the bilateral relations between Lebanon and the United States
.

Formal relations between the two countries began in 1944, when US diplomat

pro-American
.

History

US Secretary of State John Kerry shakes hands with Lebanese Future Movement leader Saad Hariri in 2014

The United States sent diplomat

George Wadsworth to Lebanon in October 1942 as an "Agent and Consul General" while Lebanon was still part of a French-ruled international mandate. The United States recognized Lebanon as an independent country on September 8, 1944. Formal relations were established on November 16, 1944, as Wadsworth presented his credentials as Envoy.[1] The first ambassador of the United States was Harold B. Minor who was appointed to the post in October 1952.[2]

The United States seeks to maintain its traditionally close ties with Lebanon, and to help preserve its independence,

militias and the deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces throughout Lebanon. The United States believes that a peaceful, prosperous, and stable Lebanon can make an important contribution to comprehensive peace in the Middle East
.

One measure of U.S. concern and involvement has been a program of relief, rehabilitation, and recovery that from 1975 through 2005 totaled more than $400 million in aid to Lebanon. For relief, recovery, rebuilding, and security in the wake of the

demining
and victims' assistance programs.

Over the years, the United States also has assisted the

American Community School at Beirut (ACS) and the International College
(IC).

In 1993, the U.S. resumed the International Military Education and Training program in Lebanon to help bolster the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF)—the country's only

Government of Lebanon as it carries out the requirements of UNSCR 1701
and asserts its sovereignty over the whole of Lebanese territory.

On October 24, 2012, five days after the

Wissam Al-Hassan, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland
announced that the American government will back the Lebanese political opposition coalition's call for a new cabinet free of Syrian influence as well as assist Lebanon in the investigation of the bombing.

In early November 2018, the

United States Treasury Department put four key members of Lebanon's Hezbollah on the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists program. They included Yusuf Hashim, Adnan Hussein Kawtharani, and Muhammad 'Abd-Al-Hadi Farhat and also Shibl Muhsin 'Ubayd Al-Zaydi who was a link between Hezbollah, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and their supporters in Iraq.[3]

In June 2019, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on three senior Hezbollah officials in Lebanon, Wafiq Safa, Muhammad Hasan Ra'd, and Amin Sherri. These officials were added to the U.S. Treasury Department's sanctions list and were accused of having a "malign agenda" to support the Iranian government.[4]

In October 2023, unconfirmed information circulated that the U.S. would close its embassy in

2023 Israel–Hamas war. The information later turned out to be false, and the U.S. embassy in Beirut stated that the office “is open and operating normally”. The news came after Israel reported that Hezbollah had possibly infiltrated Israel from southern Lebanon. The U.S. warned Hezbollah in Lebanon to not get involved in the fighting between Hamas and Israel.[5]

Lebanese public opinion of the United States

According to polling by the Pew Research Center, from 2002 to 2017, on average 44% of Lebanese people expressed a positive opinion of the United States (lowest in 2003 at 27%, highest in 2009 at 55%), while on average 55% expressed a negative opinion (highest in 2003 at 71%, lowest in 2009 at 45%).[6] Views of the United States are heavily slanted by religion in Lebanon, with Lebanese Christians being more pro-American and Lebanese Muslims being more anti-American.

In 2005 (a year where 42% of Lebanese as a whole approved of the U.S.), "only 22% of Muslims had a favorable opinion of the U.S.—a level consistent with anti-American sentiments found throughout much of the Muslim world. However, nearly three-in-four Christians (72%) had a favorable view of the U.S."[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ "A Guide to the United States' History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations, by Country, since 1776: Lebanon". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  2. ISBN 978-0-19-026590-8
    .
  3. ^ US Targets Hezbollah Iraq Network With New Sanctions
  4. ^ Rappeport, Alan (2019-07-09). "U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Hezbollah Officials Accused of Supporting Iran". The New York Times.
  5. ^ “US government is not currently considering evacuating Americans from Lebanon” Al Arabiya. (12 Oct 2023). Accessed 12 Oct 2023.
  6. ^ Pew Global Indicators Database. Pew Research Center. Accessed April 5, 2019.
  7. ^ Rosentiel, Tom. "Lebanon's Muslims." Pew Research Center, Washington D.C. July 2006.

Further reading

  • Stocker, James R. Spheres of Intervention: US Foreign Policy and the Collapse of Lebanon, 1967–1976 (Cornell University Press 2016)
  • Varady, Corrin. US Foreign Policy and the Multinational Force in Lebanon: Vigorous Self-Defense (2017)
  • Waage, Hilde Henriksen, and Geir Bergersen Huse. "A Careful Minuet: The United States, Israel, Syria and the Lebanese Civil War, 1975–1976." International History Review (2019): 1-22.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Relations of Lebanon and the United States.
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