Saad Hariri announced that he was leaving his post as Prime Minister of Lebanon, and stated that he had come to a dead-end after two weeks of mass protests in Lebanon, during which its participants accused the government of corruption and creating conditions for a possible economic collapse. Saad Hariri served in this role since…
Oh, oh, here we are again! In 1967, it was then the ‘threat’ of the standing Arab Armies (and the ensuing six-day war on Egypt and Syria); in 1980, it was Iran (and the ensuing Iraqi war on Iran); in 1996, it was David Wurmser with his Coping with Crumbling States (flowing on from the…
Over the past century, the United Kingdom and then the United States have successively courted all states and faith groups in the Middle East. They have fuelled confessional conflicts in such a way as to make themselves indispensable, according to the old principle of “Divide and conquer”. President Trump was elected three years ago with…
There have been protests (mostly pointing up economic stress) across the region for some months: from Egypt to Iraq. But the Lebanese demonstrations have caught the global attention. And there is no doubting that the Lebanese protests represent a major phenomenon. We may ask whether they are essentially a local manifestation, reflecting only the well-attested…
After less than two weeks of generalized, impulsive and unorganised protests on the streets of Lebanon, a huge amount of money has been invested – by undeclared donors – in recent days to provide protestors with food, drinks and necessities so that they will stay in the street until “the fall of the political regime,…
Hezbollah is facing a new challenge, and this time it is not a military one, but rather political. Perhaps few countries need peaceful “popular revolutions” more than Lebanon does. In my simplistic way of thinking, Lebanon should actually be on the top of the list; followed by the USA. Corruption in Lebanon is endemic. Its…
