Speeches

As sponsor of a lecture series established in his name at Tufts University, Issam Michael Fares has engaged in an ongoing dialogue with world figures about how to move toward a just peace in the Middle East. Read below to see the fruits of that engagement, and to see his thoughts on his country and region.

Speech Introducing Secretary of State James Baker

“Peace in the region will not take place without Syria and will not reach a stable situation without Lebanon.”

Speech Introducing Valery Giscard d'Estaing

Speech Introducing Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton

“Only in a deeper spirit of understanding between Arabs and Americans will just and enduring solutions in [the Middle East] take place.”

Speech Introducing President George H. W. Bush

“Resolving the endemic Middle East conflicts will never stop completely all types of terrorist acts, but it will definitely bring the Region closer to a lasting peace.”

Speech Introducing President Bill Clinton

“In conflicts such as the one raging in the Middle East, there is no alternative to dialogue — dialogue in the context of law and international legitimacy.”

Speech Introducing Gen. Colin Powell, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

“We suffered war in Lebanon for some two decades, and we experienced the dislocation, the destruction, and the misery that come with it. Only those who experience war fully appreciate the blessings of peace.”
[Watch the Video]

Speech Introducing Senator George Mitchell

“The main issue facing the world today is the persistent conflict between different ethnic communities, different religions, different linguistic groupings, and different nations with different ideologies. The challenge is how to recognize the other ... and live with the other in peace and dynamic interaction.”

Speech Introducing Baroness Thatcher, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

“Lebanon’s long-term stability depends on the stability of its region, and particularly on the just resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict.”
[Watch the Video]