LITERATURE + LECTURES

The World Affairs Council of Houston presents Contested Boundaries:  An Examination of the Syria-Lebanon-Israel Tri-Border Region .

Asher Kaufman (pictued)
Woodrow Wilson Center

The tri-border region has been a central area of conflict between Lebanon, Syria, and Israel. Delineated between French Syria and British Palestine between 1916 and 1923 and without regard to realities on the ground, it led to years of dangerous confrontation and may yet be the cause of more in the near future. To date, this border is neither properly defined along its full length nor fully accepted by the nations on either side of it. Dr. Asher Kaufman will discuss the history of the region, why the contested borders hold so much importance for future peace and stability, and the prospects of resolving border and territorial disputes.

Asher Kaufman is an assistant professor of history and peace studies at the University of Notre Dame. Prior to that, he was a research fellow at the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, and headed its Middle East Unit. He has also taught at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Now on a fellowship at the Woodrow Wilson Center, his research on the contested regions in the north of Israel is highly relevant for the Arab-Israeli conflict, for the inter-Arab relationship, and for border disputes worldwide.