US envoy Tom Barrack stated on Sunday that the United States wants to “find solutions” to the crises in Lebanon and Syria, calling for “bringing closer and aligning” these two countries.
During a roundtable at the Doha Forum on a year of transition in Damascus, Barrack launched into a tirade reminiscent of some of his controversial statements in recent months regarding Syria and Lebanon.
He first asserted that the United States wants to “find solutions” to the crises in these two countries, taking into account the “problem” that nation-states were only created at the beginning of the 20th century, while civilizations in the region are based on the “tribal, family” model.
He nevertheless considered that there are now “good new leaderships” in Damascus and Beirut, since the fall of the Bashr Al-Assad regime almost a year ago, and in Lebanon with the “new mandate” of President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
⚡️⭕️Tom Brack: We must unite Syria and Lebanon together because they represent a magnificent civilization pic.twitter.com/gzb9kh83EX
— Middle East Observer (@ME_Observer_) December 7, 2025
At the end of September, Barrack made headlines and polarized social media after stating in New York that “there is no Middle East. There are only tribes.”
“Nation-states were created by the British and French in 1916. But the Middle East doesn’t work that way … Everything starts with the individual, the family, the village, then the tribe, the community, the religion… finally, the nation,” the American envoy told journalists.
Internet users were divided on these remarks, with some agreeing with the diplomat, himself of Lebanese origin, while others denounced a “simplistic” or even “colonialist” view.
Speaking again at the roundtable, Barrack said that it was necessary to “bring Lebanon and Syria closer, align these two ancient and beautiful civilizations.”
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Without going that far, these remarks recall the controversy he sparked in July when he said that “if Lebanon does not move, it will return to Bilad al-Sham,” referring to the historical geographic term “Greater Syria,” which encompassed present-day Syria and neighboring countries.
Source: Agencies