Another day another bombing; an all to common story in Lebanon these days. So, is Lebanon on the brink? The easy answer, yes. The more complicated one? Well, the Lebanese are very resilient people, akin to a phoenix that rises from the ashes, only to burn up in flames again.
With the proliferation of attacks over the last year --- car bombings, political assassinations, suicide attacks and the never-ending cycle of violence in the streets of the Northern city of Tripoli --- the flimsy barriers that have spared the country from total chaos, weaken by the day. Similarly, al-Qaeda appears to be extending its reach into Lebanon (the ISIS, the Abdullah Azzam Brigade, and the al-Nusra Front). Combine this with the fact that for the last nine months Lebanon has been in political limbo, operating without a functioning cabinet, it seems only a matter of time before the floodgates open, leading to greater civil unrest.
The Government Problem:
The ongoing crisis in Syria is in many ways to blame for the problems facing Lebanon, but it is certainly not the cause of them. For decades Lebanon has been headed down this road. The recently deceased Muhammad Chatah, two weeks before his assassination, said it well: “We lurch from crisis to crisis, with superficial calms in between.”
Since the end of Lebanon’s brutal 15 year civil war (1975-1990) tensions have festered amongst the country’s complex religious sects – Sunni’s, Shia’s, Christians and Druze– each vying for power with the help of their chauvinistic political parties. More recently, the country has become more polarized with lines being drawn primarily along the Sunni – Shia faultline, a cause for great concern. On the one side you have an alliance of Sunni and Christian factions that ba...
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... specifically targeted the Shia community. Al-Nusra Front leader Mohammed al-jawlani recently declared that his group is active in Lebanon to help Sunnis of the country face the “injustice” of Hezbollah.
Another major issue stemming from the Syrian revolution is the ensuing refugee crisis. Thousands of civilians have poured across the borders into Lebanon. Some 500,000 refugees have registered with the United Nations (this number is greater when you count those not officially registered), which is more than 10 percent of Lebanon’s population. Lebanon is ill equipped to handle such an influx of people, especially since the state is already incapable of providing basic services to its own citizens in the best of times. At the same time, a small country of this nature is vulnerable to external shocks, which can cause significant damage to an already shaky economy.
The initiation of the Syrian War was heavily influenced by the (what was supposed to be a peaceful) protest. As well as the many deaths of the Syrian citizens. These conflicts helped citizens realize all the issues that were going on at the time. There were many causes for the violence that went on during the Syrian Civil War. It can be inferred that the three main aspects that fueled the violence of the Syrian War were due to foreign influence, sectarian opposition, and conflicts between opposing groups.
Samii, Abbas William. "The Shah's Lebanon policy: the role of SAVAK." Middle Eastern Studies 33.1 (1997): 66+. World History in Context. Web. 19 May 2014.
This marked the beginning of the Palestine armed conflict, one of its kinds to be witnessed in centuries since the fall of the Ottoman Empire and World War 1. Characterized by a chronology of endless confrontations, this conflict has since affected not only the Middle East relations, but also the gl...
The Lebanese civil strife of 1975 to 1990 traces its origin to the political system of the colonial period. The nation political system of consociationalism crumbled into the sectarian war in 1975. The Lebanese civil war had multidimensional facets; at one end, the war was between the Christian community and the Islamic community and at another end, the proximity of Lebanon to Israel and Syria influenced their involvement in the civil war. Some critics contend that the Lebanese civil war was part of greater Arab-Israeli conflict. The formation of the Arab league complicated the association of the Zionist nation with the Arab countries (Shiam). This aspect played critical role in defining the interests Israel and Syria in the Lebanese war.
The Syrian fate in the next few months and maybe years will be in the hands of big powers like U.S. and Russia that have yet to decide on a peaceful attempt that can, not end the war, but give the Syrian people who primarily need extensive humanitarian and economic assistance, a ray of hope, “as the longer battle begins to build a viable and democratic post-Assad Syria at peace with the region and the world.” (Boot, 2012)
Carpenter, Ted Galen. "Tangled Web: The Syrian Civil War And Its Implications." Mediterranean Quarterly 24.1 (2013): 1-11. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
Hezbollah, meaning “Party of God”, was created out of a volatile time in Lebanon. Lebanon in the 1970s was a collection of warring factions within the country. Palestinian guerrillas, Shiite Muslims, right-wing Christian Phalangists and leftist Sunni Muslims fought alongside as well as against each other for control of Lebanon's destiny. Syria moved in troops to aid the Christian Phalangists against the Shite Muslims. Israel was fighting against the PLO at time, which had footholds in Lebanon. In June 1982, Israeli defense minister, Ariel Sharon ordered 120,000 soldiers to invade southern Lebanon and engage the PLO. The Syrian troops put up little resistance to the Israelis. PLO forces were routed within days. Israel, very quickly, had control of about 25 percent of Lebanon, in...
If philosophy takes part in any position in the world, it is the judgement of our action in which rectify our fault (Arneson, n.d). Lebanon or Lebanese Republic is the country located in the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea (CIA, 2013). The country is surrounded by two belligerent neighbors which are Israel and Syria. Many of the events in Lebanon result in the country having a strained relationship with its neighbors. In addition, in terms of economic problems, Lebanon also has been facing numerous problems due to investment, banking, lower GDP, tourist and agricultural sectors. Some believe that Lebanon will overcome these problems in the future. However, the crisis in Lebanon regarding the hostile relations with neighbouring countries results in the occurrence of poor living standard since this initial situation vastly pervade to inevitable economic crisis in Lebanon.
Kotecha, S. (2013, November 25). BBC News - Lebanon's gay-friendly reputation challenged by abuses. Retrieved May 20, 2014, from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-25057067
Andersen, Roy, Robert F. Seibert, and Jon G. Wagner. Politics and change in the Middle East: sources of conflict and accommodation. 9th ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1982. Print.
The first twenty-five years of Syrian independence was filled with extreme political instability and p...
Severe fighting between extremist groups has led to hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the area in search of a safe haven from the impending Civil War. Citizens live in fear of lack of humanitarian aid and well as an environmental crises as the fighting becomes worse every day. As the mood across the country becomes more desperate, grocery store aisles are being emptied, water and electricity is in short supply, and fuel appears to be unattainable. Students in the outlying areas of Tripoli are also facing the bleak realization that they may not be able to return to school in September. Without intervention from NATO forces, the threat of Libya turning into a failed state is imminent. Libyan citizens will be forced to relocate to neighboring countries in order to seek refuge and build a prosperous life. ASL poses as big of a threat as the political reconstruction itself, as the terrorist organization appears to be the face and forefront of the fighting in both Tripoli and Benghazi. ASL has rejected democracy within Libya and has objectively sought tactics of irregular warfare in order to hinder a peaceful transition process and declare an Islamic emirate. ASL employs tactics such as kidnappings, bombings, and intimidation tactics of Libyan Government officials in order to have them bend to the extremists movements will. The group has also made attempts to win over the hearts and minds of the Libyan people by providing limited security services and humanitarian aid to those in need. There is also wide speculation of the group running terrorist training camps within Libya to facilitate the need for fighters in the area . Elimination of ASL within Libya would be giving the government a chance to succeed at developing a solid democratic platform in which to build their country. Eliminating ASL within the region would likely mean NATO and US
Countries surrounding Syrian, such as Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq have taken in the vast majority of Syrian refugees. In some countries, such as Lebanon, Syrian refugees make up over a quarter of the population. This causes extreme economic strain on a country, and can greatly increase the amount of poverty that is seen there. As refugees continue to flee their countries civil war, surrounding countries struggle to cope with the influx of new people into their country.
Lebanon is characterized by cultural identity of ethnic and religious diversity owing to its location at the crossroad of Arabian hinterland and Mediterranean Basin (Choueiri, 2013). Following the country’s independence from France in the year 1943, the “confessionalism” political system was established allowing for power sharing between different religious communities located in the region. The capital city of Lebanon, Beirut, serves as a regional center for trade and finance. Since independence, Lebanon has experienced the interspersion of political stability and prosperity, and political turmoil (Fisk, 2012). Lebanon is located between Israel to the south and Syria to the east and north. The instability in Middle East countries, like Israel and Syrian often spills out to Lebanon causing different instances of, external aggression, political assassination, national government collapse and civil war such as 2006 Lebanon war, 2007-2008 Lebanon conflict, and various instances of sectarian violence (Marshall, 2012). This paper seeks to evaluate the current events in Lebanon, their impact to the country, and the significance of Lebanon to the United States. The paper shall also give a predictive analysis of Lebanon in both short term and long term.
Before starting the analysis of a scenario suggesting the raising of the minimum wage in Lebanon, I would like to give an overview about the stages the Lebanese economy has gone through in the last few decades.