At the American Task Force on Lebanon (ATFL), we regularly brief US policymakers and congressional staff on the issues shaping US-Lebanese relations.
As a non-partisan, non-sectarian, and independent organization, we aim to provide fact-based analysis and clear context on the developments that matter most. Through this Explainer series, we break down complex issues into accessible insights for a broader audience.
What it means for ATFL to be policy-focused, non-partisan, and non-sectarian
At a time when political polarization often shapes public debate in both the United States and Lebanon, the American Task Force on Lebanon begins with a different question:
What policies will strengthen the relationship between the United States and Lebanon while advancing Lebanon’s sovereignty, security, democratic governance, and economic recovery?
As an independent, non-partisan, and non-sectarian organization, ATFL works to educate policymakers and the public about the importance of a strong US-Lebanon relationship. Being policy-focused means that ATFL’s positions are guided by facts, strategic priorities, institutional needs, and measurable outcomes, rather than loyalty to a political party, sect, individual leader, or electoral agenda.
Non-Partisan Does Not Mean Without Principles
Being non-partisan does not mean avoiding difficult issues, remaining silent, or taking no position on Lebanon’s future. ATFL advocates for clear principles.
It supports a sovereign, democratic, secure, and prosperous Lebanon in which public institutions are accountable, the rule of law is respected, the economy serves the public, and the state exercises legitimate authority throughout the country. ATFL’s priorities include strengthening state institutions, supporting economic and banking reform, improving governance, protecting judicial independence, and reinforcing the authority of Lebanon’s legitimate security institutions.
These priorities are reflected in ATFL’s key policy issues and its public analysis of why state authority is essential to Lebanon’s sovereignty and recovery.
What makes this approach non-partisan is that these principles do not change according to which political party controls the White House or Congress, or which political coalition holds power in Beirut. Policies are evaluated according to whether they strengthen the Lebanese state, protect the Lebanese people, advance US interests, and contribute to long-term stability.
ATFL is therefore not neutral about Lebanon’s future. It is independent of partisan and sectarian loyalties.
Building Bipartisan Support in Washington
Non-partisanship describes ATFL’s institutional independence.
Bipartisanship describes how ATFL works in Washington.
US foreign policy is more durable when it attracts support from both major political parties and can continue beyond a single administration or election cycle. ATFL engages Democrats and Republicans, congressional offices, administration officials, diplomats, policy experts, and Lebanese American community leaders around shared strategic goals.
Through its government relations and policy advocacy, ATFL promotes policies that support Lebanon’s democracy, pluralism, sovereignty, territorial integrity, humanitarian needs, and institutional development. It also works closely with the bipartisan Congressional US-Lebanon Friendship Caucus, whose members advocate for a strong bilateral relationship and meaningful reforms in Lebanon.
ATFL has repeatedly supported bipartisan congressional action. This includes welcoming bipartisan calls for democratic accountability and effective Lebanese leadership and supporting congressional efforts to confront the obstruction of Lebanon’s democratic institutions and judicial processes.
This is not bipartisanship as a slogan. It is the practical work of building policies that can survive changes in political leadership and maintain long-term US engagement with Lebanon.
Supporting the Lebanese State, Not a Political Faction
In Lebanon, ATFL’s non-sectarian and non-partisan position means that it does not advocate for one religious community, political party, faction, or individual leader to prevail over another. It advocates for the Lebanese state and for institutions that serve all Lebanese citizens.
Sovereignty requires more than international recognition or control of national borders. It requires functioning institutions capable of making and implementing decisions throughout the country. It means elected authorities govern, courts administer justice, regulators enforce the law, public institutions provide essential services, and legitimate security forces protect the population.
As ATFL explains in its article, “Sovereignty Is Not Abstract: Why State Authority Matters for Lebanon’s Future,” sovereignty directly affects whether people feel safe, whether businesses invest, whether public services function, and whether young people believe they can build a future in Lebanon.
A sovereign Lebanon must also be able to make national decisions through its constitutional institutions. Decisions concerning war, peace, national defense, and foreign relations cannot remain in the hands of political or armed organizations operating independently of the state.
This principle is consistent with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for the extension of Lebanese government authority throughout the country, the deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces in the South, and security arrangements preventing armed groups from operating outside state authority.
Supporting the state is not an attack on any Lebanese community. On the contrary, strong and accountable national institutions are necessary to protect all communities equally and reduce dependence on partisan or sectarian networks.
Economic Reform Is a Sovereignty Issue
A country cannot exercise meaningful sovereignty when its institutions are financially insolvent, its banking system cannot perform its basic functions, public services are deteriorating, and much of the economy operates through unregulated cash transactions.
Lebanon’s financial collapse has weakened the relationship between citizens, banks, and the state. Depositors have lost access to much of their savings, businesses face limited access to financing, and cash-based activity has grown beyond effective institutional oversight.
ATFL examines this transformation in “Unpacking Lebanon’s Parallel Cash Economy: The Collapse of Trust and the Path to Recovery.” The article explains how the banking collapse helped produce a largely cash-based economy, weakening transparency and creating greater opportunities for tax evasion, illicit financial activity, and the expansion of parallel economic systems.
The World Bank estimated that Lebanon’s dollarized cash economy was worth approximately $9.86 billion, or 45.7 percent of GDP, in 2022. Its continuing Lebanon Economic Monitor series has repeatedly warned that economic recovery requires comprehensive reforms rather than the normalization of crisis conditions.
That is why economic recovery is central to ATFL’s policy work. Priorities include restructuring the banking sector, determining and distributing financial losses fairly, protecting depositors as much as possible, restoring credible financial oversight, strengthening public financial management, combating illicit finance, and rebuilding trust in the country’s institutions.
ATFL provides further context in “Lebanon’s Economic Crisis: Understanding IMF Requirements and Banking Reform.”
The International Monetary Fund’s work with Lebanon has similarly emphasized banking restructuring, fiscal sustainability, central bank governance, improved financial-sector oversight, and stronger public institutions. The IMF’s 2026 Diagnostic of Governance and Corruption calls for reforms that strengthen the rule of law, public financial management, transparency, and accountability.
These reforms are not abstract technical requirements. They are necessary to restore access to savings, support businesses, create jobs, attract productive investment, and rebuild the state’s capacity to serve its citizens.
International Partnership Must Be Based on Accountability
Lebanon’s recovery will require cooperation among the Lebanese government, the United States, international financial institutions, UN agencies, regional partners, civil society, the private sector, and the Lebanese diaspora.
However, international assistance cannot substitute indefinitely for effective government. Nor should foreign aid unintentionally strengthen systems that operate outside state authority.
ATFL supports international assistance that addresses humanitarian and reconstruction needs while reinforcing accountable Lebanese institutions. This means establishing clear objectives, transparent processes, realistic timelines, effective oversight, and verifiable reform benchmarks.
The objective should not be to impose reforms from outside. It should be to ensure that Lebanese institutions assume responsibility for implementing reforms that protect public resources and serve the Lebanese population.
This approach is consistent with the Reform, Recovery and Reconstruction Framework, developed by the World Bank, the European Union, and the United Nations following the Beirut port explosion. The framework links international recovery assistance to principles of transparency, inclusion, institutional reform, and accountability.
A policy-focused approach rejects two ineffective extremes: providing assistance without meaningful accountability or abandoning Lebanon because reform is difficult. Instead, it combines sustained diplomatic and financial engagement with clear expectations, measurable progress, and credible oversight.
Strengthening Lebanon’s Legitimate Security Institutions
The same policy-first principle applies to national security.
ATFL supports the Lebanese Armed Forces as the country’s legitimate national defense institution. It also supports the Internal Security Forces and other lawful public institutions responsible for protecting citizens and enforcing the law.
Through its advocacy on Lebanon’s sovereignty and security, ATFL promotes a strong partnership between the United States and the LAF. The purpose of this partnership is to strengthen Lebanon’s territorial integrity, maintain internal stability, secure the country’s borders, and expand the authority of the Lebanese state.
The US Department of State describes security assistance to the LAF as a key component of US policy aimed at strengthening Lebanon’s sovereignty, securing its borders, and countering threats from terrorist and armed groups. In January 2025, the United States also announced more than $117 million in expanded assistance for the LAF and Internal Security Forces.
Supporting the LAF does not mean giving any institution a blank check. Legitimate security institutions must remain professional, accountable, adequately resourced, and subject to civilian and constitutional authority.
The long-term objective is a Lebanon in which national defense and security decisions are made by the government and implemented by state institutions, rather than by armed organizations acting independently of the state.
Preparing the Next Generation for Policy Leadership
A policy-focused approach must look beyond immediate crises. It must also develop the people who will shape the future of the US-Lebanon relationship.
Through its NextGen Leadership Summit, ATFL introduces emerging Lebanese American professionals to the institutions and processes that shape US foreign policy. Participants engage with congressional offices, diplomats, experts, and community leaders while learning how policy is researched, developed, communicated, and implemented.
During ATFL’s inaugural summit, participants took part in a bipartisan policy discussion with members of Congress and met with analysts from the Congressional Research Service to learn how research supports legislative decision-making.
The goal is not to train young people to repeat a party line. It is to prepare them to examine evidence, understand institutions, communicate responsibly, work across political differences, and advocate effectively for a strong US-Lebanon relationship.
This investment helps ensure that future Lebanese American leadership is informed by public policy, institutional knowledge, civic engagement, and a commitment to democratic principles rather than factional politics.
Policy Over Partisanship
For ATFL, policy over partisanship is not about avoiding politics. It is about practicing advocacy with consistency, credibility, and discipline.
It means engaging Democrats and Republicans without becoming an extension of either party.
It means supporting Lebanese institutions without endorsing a Lebanese political faction.
It means evaluating proposals according to evidence, institutional impact, and measurable results rather than personalities, slogans, or short-term political calculations.
It means advocating for international assistance while insisting on transparency and accountability.
And it means understanding that sovereignty, security, economic recovery, reform, and diplomacy are not separate objectives. They are interconnected parts of the same national project.
ATFL’s vision is clear: a sovereign, democratic, secure, and prosperous Lebanon, supported by a strong and durable relationship with the United States.
Political leaders and administrations may change. The principles guiding ATFL’s work do not.