Syria: Why it Matters, What Can Be Done. Ambassador Fred Hof

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Ambassador Fred Hof

Syria: Why it Matters, What Can Be Done

Sponsored by: Diversity, Inclusion, Global Committee of the Y

Frederic C. Hof has been a soldier, diplomat, CEO, author, and the Director of the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East.  He is currently on the faculty of Bard College and is a Nonresident Senior Fellow of the Hariri Center. A native of New York, Ambassador Hof received a BS in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and an MA in National Security Studies from the Naval Postgraduate School.  He studied Arabic in Tunisia and, as a US Army officer, served overseas in Vietnam and Lebanon.  He concluded his military service in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.  In the private sector he would become CEO of AALC Ltd., an international business consulting firm, and would later establish a Syria practice at the Atlantic Council’s Hariri Center, before becoming the Center’s Director in 2016. Ambassador Hof has written extensively on Middle Eastern political and security issues.  His published works have focused on Arab-Israeli boundary and water disputes and the Syrian crisis.  He served on the Department of Defense commission that investigated the 1983 bombing of the US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, drafting portions of the final report.  He was chief of staff of the 2000-2001 Sharm el-Sheikh Fact-Finding Committee (investigating the October 2000 Palestinian intifada) and principal drafter of the report submitted by former US Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell to President Bush and Secretary of State Powell.  He received the rank of ambassador in 2012 while serving as advisor to the Secretary of State on political transition in Syria. Ambassador Hof’s diplomatic mediation work has dealt with Jordanian-Israeli water issues, Israeli-Syrian peace, Lebanese-Israeli natural gas and exclusive economic zone disputes, and Palestinian-Israeli security matters.  Among his military and civilian decorations is the Purple Heart.  He and his wife, Brenda, reside in Silver Spring, MD, and Kerhonkson, NY.   To Register: Call (610) 375-7880 or email contactus@wacreading.org Cost to attend: Members $23 Non-Members $30 Without Meal $10 Ambassadors Included