Press Release: Ambassador Chatah’s visit to the U.S

Ambassador Mohamad Chatah, senior foreign policy advisor to former Prime Minister Saad Hariri concluded a week long visit to Washington at the invitation of the Aspen Institute where he participated in a panel discussion on Lebanese banking. He also met with US officials in the White House and the State Department concerning the situation in Lebanon and the region and gave a talk at the Wilson Center to a large group of Middle East experts and US officials.

This is a video of a panel`discussion held in Washington DC at the Aspen Institute on September 19, 2012. The panel included U.S. Assistant Secretay of the Treasury Dan Glazer and was moderated by Jay Solomon of the Wall Street Journal. The topic was:

Banking on Credibility: Lebanon’s Financial Sector Amidst Sanctions and Regional Instability

video link:
http://www.aspeninstitute.org/video/banking-credibility-lebanon-s-financial-sector-amidst-sanctions-regional-instability

A Pothole Down the Road

They say a joke is sometimes more eloquent than a thesis. I first heard this one back when Fouad Siniora was still Prime Minister. It goes something like this:

Not Everyone Wants to Shield Lebanon

The Syrian regime is bound to lose its battle for survival. But few are ready to predict when that is going to happen. In the meantime, the risk of a serious spill-over into Lebanon will continue to mount. Loud accusations are voiced by both sides of the Syrian divide in Lebanon concerning weapons and fighters moving across the border. The recently uncovered Syrian plot to send large amounts of explosives into Lebanon to kill political leaders and target popular gatherings in the Akkar region is indicative of the desparate attitude currently prevailing in Damascus.