Podcasts Government Babel: Translating the Middle East Frederic Hof: Lessons Learned from U.S. Negotiations with Syria

Frederic Hof: Lessons Learned from U.S. Negotiations with Syria

Published: May 31, 2022, 6:25 p.m.

This week on Babel, Jon speaks with Ambassador Fred Hof about his new book,\xa0Reaching for the Heights: The Inside Story of a Secret Attempt to Reach a Syrian-Israeli Peace.\xa0They talk about Ambassador Hof's effort to negotiate peace between Syria and Israel between 2009 and 2011, what complicated those efforts, what he thinks he could have done differently, and the qualities that make for a good mediator. Then, Jon continues the conversation with Natasha Hall and Caleb Harper, taking a closer look at U.S. mediation in the Middle East and the interplay between U.S. mediators on the ground and policymakers in Washington.\xa0\n\nFrederic Hof, "I almost negotiated Israel-Syria peace. Here\u2019s how it happened." Atlantic Council, May 26, 2022.\n\nFrederic Hof, Reaching for the Heights: The Inside Story of a Secret Attempt to Reach a Syrian-Israeli Peace, (Washington, D.C.: USIP Press, 2022).\n\nTranscript, "Lessons Learned from U.S. Negotiations with Syria," CSIS, May 31, 2022.