Foreign Relations & International Law

Lawfare Daily: How Escalations in Lebanon May Prolong the Iran War, with Joel Braunold

Scott R. Anderson, Joel Braunold, Jen Patja
Friday, June 12, 2026, 7:00 AM

Discussing recent escalations between Israel and Lebanon.

For today’s episode, Lawfare Senior Editor Scott R. Anderson sits down with Joel Braunold, the Managing Director of the Center Project, for the latest in their regular series on recent developments in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and related issues.

Together, they dig into recent escalations between Israel and Lebanon and their bearing on the broader Iran conflict, including tensions between President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the impact on efforts at regional integration, and how it might serve as a spoiler for broader efforts to negotiate the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

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Scott R. Anderson is a Senior Editor at Lawfare and General Counsel of the Lawfare Institute. He is also a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and a Non-resident 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.
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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