Lebanon is a small, religiously diverse country on the Mediterranean Sea that borders Israel and Syria. (See fig. 1.) Religious tensions among Lebanon’s Maronite Christians, Sunni Muslims, and Shiite Muslims, among others, along with an influx of Palestinian refugees into Lebanon, have fueled Lebanon’s internal strife and conflicts with its neighbors. During the civil war between 1975 and 1990, both Syrian and Israeli forces occupied the country. In the midst of the civil war and Israel’s continued occupation of southern Lebanon, Hezbollah emerged in Lebanon as a powerful Islamic militant group. Throughout the 1990s, Hezbollah, funded by Iran and designated by the United States and Israel as a terrorist organization, pursued its military campaign against Israeli forces occupying Lebanon while also participating in Lebanon’s political system. In 2000, Israeli forces withdrew from southern Lebanon. In 2005, with pressure from the international community, Syrian forces withdrew from Lebanon following the assassination of Lebanon’s prime minister. The subsequent parliamentary elections that year resulted in a member of Hezbollah holding a cabinet position for the first time. In the summer of 2006, Hezbollah and Israel entered into a month-long conflict that ended with the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 by both the Israeli and Lebanese governments. The resolution called for Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon in parallel with the deployment of Lebanese and United Nations forces and the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, among other things. Since 2011, instability in neighboring Syria may have exacerbated sectarian conflict within Lebanon. See figure 2 for a timeline of selected political events in Lebanon. The United States has provided Lebanon with assistance, such as emergency humanitarian aid during the civil war and training for military forces under the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program. The United States and Lebanon have historically enjoyed a good relationship in part because of cultural and religious ties, a large Lebanese-American community in the United States, and the pro- Western orientation of Lebanon, particularly during the Cold War. Following the Syrian withdrawal in 2005 and the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah war, the United States increased its security assistance to Lebanon. The United States provided assistance to the LAF, which is generally responsible for providing border security, counterterrorism, and national defense, and to the ISF, or police force, which is generally responsible for maintaining law and order in Lebanon. The fiscal year 2006 appropriations marked the first time since 1984 that U.S. agencies allocated Foreign Military Financing grants to help modernize and equip the LAF. Since then, the United States has provided security assistance to Lebanon through the Foreign Military Financing program; IMET; International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE) program; the Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining, and Related (NADR) programs; and Section 1206 and Section 1207 authorities for training and equipping foreign militaries and security forces and for reconstruction, stabilization, and security activities in foreign countries, respectively. The NADR security assistance for Lebanon has been provided through three programs: Antiterrorism Assistance, Counterterrorism Financing, and Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS). Table 1 describes these security assistance programs. In addition, to these security assistance programs, U.S. Special Forces units have provided specialized training to LAF Special Forces units, according to agency officials. The United States has kept strategic goals for Lebanon constant since 2007. These goals include supporting the Government of Lebanon in establishing stability and security against internal threats from militant extremists and countering destabilizing influences. U.S. agencies have adjusted security assistance in response to Lebanon’s political and security conditions. For example, State and DOD have delayed releasing funds and limited the types of equipment provided. Both agencies have also implemented additional assistance programs since fiscal year 2007. Since 2007, U.S strategic goals for Lebanon have been to support the nation as a stable, secure, and independent democracy. According to DOD and State officials, the overarching priorities for Lebanon remain focused on supporting Lebanese sovereignty and stability and countering the influence of Syria and Iran. Security-related goals for Lebanon focus on counterterrorism and regional stability or internal security. Programs activities seek to support development of the LAF and the ISF as the only legitimate providers of Lebanon’s security. The goals and objectives of the individual security assistance programs are intended to support the U.S. strategic goals and overarching priorities, as the following examples illustrate: Goals for the Foreign Military Financing, IMET, and 1206 programs in Lebanon since the departure of Syrian forces are to bolster the capability of the LAF, nurture the bilateral military relationship between the United States and the LAF, and continue encouraging establishment of a stable, legal, and pro-U.S. civil government. Goals for the INCLE police training program are (1) to build Lebanon’s operational capacity to combat crime, and prevent and respond to terror attacks; and (2) to assist Lebanon in developing the ISF into a competent, professional, and democratic police force with the necessary training, equipment, and institutional capacity to enforce the rule of law in Lebanon, cement sovereign Lebanese government control over its territory, and protect the Lebanese people. Goals for the Antiterrorism Assistance program in Lebanon are to develop and build the Lebanese government’s capacities in border security, mid- and senior-level leadership development, and counterterrorism investigations. Goals for the Counterterrorism Financing Program are to deny terrorists access to money, resources, and support. Goals for EXBS in Lebanon focus on strengthening the capability of Lebanese enforcement agencies to effectively control cross-border trade in strategic goods. Goals for the 1207 program were to strengthen Lebanon’s internal security forces after armed conflicts in 2006 and 2007. The goals and objectives of U.S. security assistance to Lebanon have continued to focus on supporting Lebanese sovereignty and stability and countering the influences of Syria and Iran. However, according to State and DOD officials, the agencies have changed how they implement programs based on changes in the political and security situation, for example, by delaying the release of funds or limiting the types of equipment provided. In one instance, State delayed committing fiscal year 2010 Foreign Military Financing funds as a result of an incident on August 3, 2010, in which the LAF opened fire on an Israeli Defense Force unit engaged in routine maintenance along the Blue Line, alleging that it had crossed into Lebanese territory. Two Lebanese soldiers, a journalist, and an Israeli officer were killed. According to State, in response to concerns raised by a member of Congress, State delayed committing $100 million of fiscal year 2010 Foreign Military Financing funds for Lebanon, citing the need to determine whether equipment that the United States provided to the LAF was used against Israel. According to a State official, State committed the funds in November 2010 after consulting with the member of Congress. In addition, according to State officials, State and DOD decided to place a temporary hold on lethal assistance to the LAF in January 2011, after the collapse of Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s government. In March 2012, the agencies decided to lift the hold on lethal assistance based on the Mikati government’s adherence to key international obligations to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and United Nations Security Council Resolution. The U.S. government has also implemented new security assistance programs in Lebanon since fiscal year 2007 in response to changing security assistance needs, according to State officials. For example, State began implementing the EXBS program in Lebanon in fiscal year 2009— after State performed an assessment to identify deficiencies in the country’s ability to detect and interdict weapons of mass destruction and advanced conventional weapons, according to officials of State’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation. State determined that Lebanon did not have a comprehensive system to regulate trade in strategic goods and technologies for the purpose of preventing the proliferation of such weapons, and lacked the necessary legal and institutional elements to manage strategic trade consistent with international standards. In addition, in fiscal year 2010, State’s Bureau of Counterterrorism began implementing its Counterterrorism Financing program in Lebanon. According to bureau officials, the goals of the program are to build the foreign capacity of the Government of Lebanon to develop laws and regulations to deny terrorists access to funds. State has also changed the focus of some of the security assistance programs. For example, the INCLE police training program is no longer providing basic training to cadets, according to the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. The bureau turned the basic training over to the ISF as of July 2012 and is providing leadership and management training. The bureau is working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration to develop specialized training to increase the ISF’s investigatory skills, according to U.S. embassy officials. The bureau is also expanding its community policing program, according to bureau officials. In addition, State’s Bureau for Counterterrorism has changed the focus of its antiterrorism training, according to officials of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security whom we interviewed in Lebanon. They explained that when the program began in 2007, it focused on training Lebanese security details to protect national leaders. The trained protection details have demonstrated a mastery of the skills for which they were trained. As a result, the Bureau for Counterterrorism and the Bureau of Diplomatic Security consider the protection mission to be complete and since 2010 has shifted its focus to border security, management and leadership, and counterterrorism investigations, according to the Diplomatic Security officials. Finally, while there have been no major changes to the EXBS program in Lebanon, U.S. embassy officials stated that the United States has increased the program’s emphasis on convincing the government to change its export control laws. U.S. agencies have allocated over $925 million in security assistance for Lebanon from fiscal years 2007 through 2012, with funds varying by year and program.