Cross-border skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah, last at war in 2006, have escalated recently and the Israeli military said that “plans of an offensive in Lebanon been approved and validated”. Earlier Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz warned that Hezbollah would be destroyed in a total war.

When Michel Aoun left office as president of Lebanon last October, many politicians assumed that finding a successor would be relatively easy, not least because none of the main political parties were interested in blocking the election of a new president. Four months later, however, no compromise solution has been found, and many wonder…

Lebanese legislators have failed for the seventh time to elect a successor to former president Michel Aoun, even as the absence of a president hinders efforts to rescue an economy that has fallen into the abyss.  Parliament is split between supporters of the Hezbollah group and its opponents, and none of them has a clear majority. MP Michel Moawad, who is...

In recent days, many media outlets have rushed to publish “sensational reports” that Lebanon and Israel have reached an agreement on the demarcation of the maritime border. Of course, the US and Israeli media have been particularly active in publishing such information, presenting...

In 1983 American radio personality Gary Byrd released The Crown. This is now regarded as a rap record, but the genre barely existed then, so at the time it was more an oddity than anything. The Crown tells the story of human socio-political development, and the specifically the African role in it, and the omission of this from the history books. Not surprisingly, given the scope...

Despite recent parliamentary elections in Lebanon, which are seen as a success, albeit a modest one, the small Mediterranean country is still frozen in suspense and chaos could return to the country. After the held elections, the Lebanese are now at a difficult crossroads: they must immediately appoint a prime minister, form a government and the parliament must...

Almost three years of political, economic and social problems and disastrous policies have transformed life in Lebanon, once known as the “Paris of the Middle East”, and this land of hope now looks like a textbook example of how not to run a state. In a cogent analysis, the Lebanese newspaper As-Safir blames the failures on a political system which is focused...

The December 27th speech of Lebanese president Michel Aoun has attracted some international interest. It is to be hoped that it would, given the situation there at present. Lebanon is a country facing many problems, as if unending, and previously reported in NEO. The Lebanese pound has lost 90% of its value, and...

For many years, Lebanon was considered the safe haven of the Middle East plagued by wars, instability, and colored revolutions. Many have referred to the country as the Middle East's Switzerland, including investments in Lebanon's economy from countries of the region where the political crises were raging. The country's banks...

Recently, Saudi Arabia and its satellites Bahrain and Kuwait have decided to expel Lebanese ambassadors amid the rising tensions between Beirut and some countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC). In addition, Riyadh severed economic ties with Lebanon, which looks like a deliberately...

One country that suffers from everything is Lebanon - location, wrong choice of friends, corrupt and inept government, water supply, energy problems and pending social, economic and moral collapse. Many of its problems are self-inflicted, but most others are the result of the intentional policy of its neighbours and the international...

Lebanon’s current problems directly result from the absence of a strong state, as the country has relied on aid instead of building a solid economy. The UN estimates that 78% of the country’s population currently lives in poverty. Where warring factions have empowered and enriched their leaders, the state has consistently refused to provide the essential...