Armed Conflict Foreign Relations & International Law

Lawfare Daily: Breaking Down the Lebanon Ceasefire

Scott R. Anderson, Joel Braunold, Daniel Byman, Mona Yacoubian, Jen Patja
Thursday, April 23, 2026, 7:00 AM
What are the implications of the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire?

On today's episode, Lawfare Senior Editor Scott R. Anderson sits down with several leading experts to break down the recent ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel and what it might mean for their ongoing conflict, and the broader conflict with Iran.

Joel Braunold is a contributing editor at Lawfare as well as the managing director of the Center Project. Dan Byman is a foreign policy editor at Lawfare as well as the director of the Warfare, Irregular Threats, and Terrorism Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Mona Yacoubian is the director of the Middle East Program at CSIS.

Together, Scott, Dan, and Mona first discuss the contours of this latest Israel-Lebanon war, the nature of the ceasefire, and what will likely be needed for it to lead to a more enduring and stable resolution of the conflict. Scott and Joel then sit down separately a day later to specifically discuss Israel's view of the conflict and approach to the ceasefire, and what recent events might tell us about, among other things, Israeli-U.S. relations.

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Scott R. Anderson is a fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and a Senior Fellow in the National Security Law Program at Columbia Law School. He previously served as an Attorney-Adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State and as the legal advisor for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq.
Joel Braunold is the Managing Director of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace.
Daniel Byman is a professor in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and the director of the Warfare, Irregular Threats, and Terrorism Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C.
Mona Yacoubian is the director of the Middle East Program at CSIS.
Jen Patja is the editor of the Lawfare Podcast and Rational Security, and serves as Lawfare’s Director of Audience Engagement. Previously, she was Co-Executive Director of Virginia Civics and Deputy Director of the Center for the Constitution at James Madison's Montpelier, where she worked to deepen public understanding of constitutional democracy and inspire meaningful civic participation.
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