Current Analysis Tripoli's Troubles to Come Tripoli is the epicenter of a high-stakes conflict unfolding in Lebanon. In 2012 alone, armed clashes have erupted six times, in mid-February, thrice in May, again in early June and most recently in late July, between Sunnis and ‘Alawis there. The firefights in Lebanon’s second city, a port town of Maren Milligan • 18 min read
MER Article The Local Politics of the Lebanese Disappeared The Syrian presence in Lebanon was visible and audible to all, from the large numbers of Syrian construction workers to the peddlers selling the latest music CDs on the sidewalks to the military checkpoints in the mountains. In shared taxis there was often talk about which Lebanese politician had ju Roschanack Shaery • 9 min read
MER Article Hizballah in the Sights Thanassis Cambanis, A Privilege to Die: Inside Hezbollah’s Legions and Their Endless War Against Israel (Free Press, 2010). Lara Deeb • 20 min read
Current Analysis Lebanon Against Itself (Again) The year 2011 has brought Lebanon’s political tug of war into the streets again, with thousands of protesters burning tires and blocking roads over the apparent failure of their candidate to secure the office of prime minister. But months of hype to the contrary, this time the raucous demonstrations Marc J. Sirois • 12 min read
MER Article Rosen, Aftermath Nir Rosen, Aftermath (Nation Books, 2010). In addition to numberless tales of human misery, the post-September 11 US wars in the greater Middle East have produced a veritable library of war reporter’s books. Most of them are formulaic and eminently forgettable, but a few are valuable chronicles tha Chris Toensing • 6 min read
Current Analysis The Long, Steep Fall of the Lebanon Tribunal After five long years, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon is expected to hand down its indictments at long last. By the end of 2010, or perhaps the beginning of 2011, the Tribunal will accuse a number of individuals of direct involvement in the murders of former Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri and seve Heiko Wimmen • 15 min read
Current Analysis Hizballah's Domestic Growing Pains The term dahiya (suburb) is a staple of Lebanese political discourse, practically shorthand for Hizballah, the Shi‘i Islamist party seated in its infamous headquarters just south of Beirut. Before the civil war, the suburb, or more precisely suburbs, consisted of several small towns surrounded by or Marlin Dick • 17 min read
MER Article Maasri, Off the Wall Zeina Maasri, Off the Wall: Political Posters of the Lebanese Civil War (London: I. B. Tauris, 2009). Sarah A. Rogers • 3 min read
MER Article How Lebanon Has Weathered the Storm One would imagine that, of all the countries in the Middle East, Lebanon would be among the hardest hit by the global financial crisis. Famous for its weak central state and ferociously capitalist private sector, Lebanon has the closest thing to a free market in the region. It has a dollar-based eco Nisreen Salti, Aslı Bâli • 9 min read
Current Analysis Democracy, Lebanese-Style Just as reports from Lebanon were indicating that a cabinet would be finalized within days, the notoriously fickle Druze leader Walid Jumblatt announced, on August 2, that his Progressive Socialist Party would withdraw from the governing coalition. Jumblatt criticized his coalition partners in the M Melani Cammett • 15 min read
Current Analysis Old Wine in Older Skins On June 8, when all votes are cast and counted between the glitzy urban quarters of Beirut and the dusty hamlets of the Bekaa valley, the Lebanese elections will have produced one certain winner: the local advertising industry. Despite a newly imposed cap on campaign spending, candidates have been f Heiko Wimmen • 17 min read
MER Article Cosmetic Surgery and the Beauty Regime in Lebanon In May 2007, the First National Bank of Lebanon embarked on a unique media campaign. Some 900 billboards in Arabic and English sprouted up offering loans, not to buy a home or to pay tuition, but to “get the makeover of your dreams.” The corresponding magazine advertisement featured a blond-haired, Sandra Beth Doherty • 11 min read
