At the end of the former’s administration, US President Joe Biden and then-President-Elect Donald Trump worked together to end the Israel–Hezbollah war in Lebanon, setting the country on a path toward recovery. 

Trump’s allies need to understand what Trump’s transition team accomplished with the Biden White House and why Lebanon matters to an America First foreign policy.

The main headline achievement from the November ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah is the withdrawal of both Israel and Hezbollah from southern Lebanon and the mobilization of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) to that region to serve as a buffer and prevent future conflict from erupting between the two sides. It is also important to note that the agreement also recommits Lebanon to disarming all non-state militias (namely, Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia that has effectively controlled Lebanon for the last decade) and lays the groundwork for a border demarcation negotiation, mediated by the US, between Israel and Lebanon.

On the political front, the US helped break Lebanon’s two-year leadership gridlock and empowered Lebanese lawmakers to elect reform-oriented leaders Joseph Aoun as president and Nawaf Salam as prime minister.

While recognizing these accomplishments in his confirmation hearing, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio added that his country will need “to take advantage of those opportunities.” 

The Trump Transition Team actively advanced a historic opportunity in Lebanon. This opportunity allows the US to secure Israel, counter Iran and build the foundation for an alliance with the Arab world’s only democracy. This alliance is strategically beneficial for US economic and security interests.

The threefold criteria for US assistance recently outlined by the new chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Brian Mast, provides a helpful framework for understanding how this will benefit the US:

1. What does America need from each country or region?
2. What does that country or region want from the US?
3. Does what America’s providing get America what it needs?

What does the US need from Lebanon?

In Lebanon, the US needs a partner to counter Iran and protect Israel. Lebanon also serves as the only model of a pluralistic democracy in the region.

For the first time in modern history, Lebanon’s president and prime minister are committed to sovereignty and international law. Aoun’s inaugural address stated that his “commitment [is to] ensure the state’s right to hold a monopoly on weapons and to invest in the army to monitor the borders.” Salam has also emphasized the importance of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, the basis for the agreement.

Lebanon is also one of the few countries in the region that strongly resonates with US values. It is a democracy and the only country in the region where Christians and Muslims have worked together to create a system of government in which everyone has equal representation.

What does Lebanon want from the US?

In the United States, Lebanon is looking for a partner for peace. Lebanon’s new reform-oriented leadership provides the army with the mandate and direction to reclaim state sovereignty and disarm non-state militias. The US will need to do its part (along with our allies, particularly in Europe and the Gulf) to ensure that the Lebanese army can mobilize 10,000 soldiers to southern Lebanon to enforce the agreement in the short term and even more to implement the agreement’s disarmament provisions north of the Litani River as well as to stabilize the Syrian border. 

Lebanon and Israel will both look to the US to begin work on demarcating their land borders, an essential part of the 2024 ceasefire agreement.

In the aftermath of the Israel–Hezbollah war, which inflicted billions of dollars of damage on Lebanon’s economy and infrastructure, Lebanon is looking to the US and its allies for help with reconstruction and addressing the many humanitarian-related challenges facing its population on issues ranging from health to education.

Now that there has been a change of regime in Syria, Lebanon is also importantly looking to the US for leadership in supporting the return of Syrian refugees in Lebanon back to their homeland now that the fear of persecution from the Assad regime is off the table.

Does what the US provides to Lebanon provide a return on investment for the US?

The Lebanese Armed Forces have already proven to be a reliable partner for the US up to the ceasefire agreement with Israel. With US support, it successfully drove ISIS out of Lebanon, confronted Hezbollah in Kahaleh (2023) and Tayounneh (2021), disrupted Captagon trafficking supported by the former Assad regime and Hezbollah, and even protected the US embassy in Lebanon from violent anti-American protestors and gunmen with ISIS insignia throughout the Israel-Gaza war. Since the signing of the ceasefire, the LAF has received praise from US officials for its progress in disarming Hezbollah and securing the Lebanon-Israel border. Lebanon’s government has banned Iranian airlines from landing in Beirut, increased inspections on flights from Iraq and arrested a man arriving from Turkey with $2.5 million in cash intended for Hezbollah. 

These actions are making the region safer.

By finishing the job in Lebanon, the US can deal a blow to Iran, eliminate future threats to Israel and ensure that there is a viable model of democracy and pluralism in the Middle East.

As a candidate, Trump promised to work to ensure the Lebanese “live in peace, prosperity and harmony with their neighbors.” By supporting the Biden Administration’s diplomatic efforts, he helped secure a ceasefire agreement and break a political stalemate. Now that he is in the White House, Trump will need the commitment of his allies to ensure the US capitalizes on this historic opportunity in Lebanon.

[Liam Roman edited this piece.]

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.