Prof. Hanna-El-Daher Speaks on Lebanon at the French Airforce Academy

On March 9, AGS faculty member Ambassador Samira Hanna-El-Daher gave a presentation at the French Airforce Academy (Ecole de l'Air) on the subject of Lebanon.

Professor Hanna-El-Daher spoke to an audience of over 400 Air Force officers and future officers who are students, alumni or faculty of the Ecole de l'Air. Her presentation was followed by a Question-and-Answer session. She talked about the National Pact that laid the foundations of Lebanon in 1943 and still shapes its politics today, and the specificities of the Lebanese Constitution which produces a democratic regime based on equality of participation of the various communities regardless of their numbers. She referred to what she called the "three Rs" of Lebanon: Resistance, Resonance and Resilience, arguing that these three qualities have made for the sustainability of Lebanon, allowing it to survive many invasions and the cohabitation of Christians, Muslims and other religious communities.

Ambassador Hanna-El-Daher is a member of the AGS faculty along with her position as Representative of Lebanon to the Executive Board of UNESCO. She is a career diplomat who was the first woman in Lebanon to be named Ambassador, and the first woman worldwide to be an Ambassador in Japan. She also served as Head of Mission in China, Australia, and Great Britain, Ambassador to the Philippines, Switzerland, and Cyprus, as well as Consul General in New York and Legal Advisor of the Lebanese Permanent Mission to the United Nations.