Amos Hochstein Discusses Energy and Conflict in Middle East

Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor for Energy and Investment, Amos Hochstein, visited Columbia SIPA in September to discuss the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment and negotiations in Lebanon with students and faculty from the Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, the Institute of Global Politics, and the International Fellows Program. The Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment is a global infrastructure initiative launched by the G7 in 2022. Hochstein presented attendees with a compelling vision for global energy security and de-escalation in Lebanon.

A senior official on the National Security Council responsible for both countering China's Belt and Road Initiative and preventing escalation along Lebanon’s border, Hochstein explained how a more integrated Middle East can support U.S. strategic competition with China and lead to greater stability. During his prior two years at the U.S. State Department, his shuttle diplomacy secured a maritime border deal between Lebanon and Israel in 2022 that he hopes can be a pilot for future negotiations.

He spent an hour with more than 35 IGP Student Scholars, Saltzman Scholars, International Fellows, and Saltzman faculty, in a conversation moderated by Victoria Nuland, the Shelby Cullom Davis Professor in the Practice of International Diplomacy and director of the International Fellows Program.

The discussion involved lively exchanges between students and faculty about the mechanics of dealmaking, the prospects for investment in renewable energy in Africa, and the difficulty of building trust with allies and adversaries alike.