Download or read book The National Dialogue of Lebanon written by Walid E. Moubarak and published by Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research. This book was released on 2018-06-27 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The need for national dialogue within states has been gaining momentum ever since the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the emergent new global system, intra-state conflicts have surpassed inter-state conflicts in number and complexity, requiring new instruments, approaches to mediation, and conflict resolution mechanisms. The Lebanese National Dialogue (LND), presided over by Michel Suleiman, the president of the Lebanese Republic from 2008 to 2014, represented a relatively new experiment in inclusivity or internal mediation for Lebanon, which marked a change from outside mediation. The LND was a hybrid mechanism, in which the top political leaders aimed to rectify the constitutional failures and solve the current and future challenges the small and weak Lebanese state was facing. This dialogue was designed along the same lines of the 2006 dialogue, when Nabih Berri, the speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, called for a national dialogue. This latter dialogue was short lived and came to a complete halt, primarily because of Israel’s war with Hezbollah in July 2006. The call for dialogue at that time was seen as a vital measure to respond to the transition period following 30 years of Syrian military presence in Lebanon. This study attempts to examine the LND to determine whether the nature of Lebanese politics would allow internal mediation to solve problems of regional implication, or at least to maintain relative stability and continuity for the political system. The study examines the structure and process of the LND, the strengths and weaknesses of the LND, and the role of supportive dialogue structures. The study also includes an analysis of the national dialogue process, incorporating the Baabda Declaration of 2012 and its aftermath and the controversy over a national defensive strategy for Lebanon.

Download or read book The National Dialogue of Lebanon written by Walid E. Moubarak and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Lebanese National Dialogue Past and Present Experience of Consensus building written by Martin Wählisch and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Historical Dictionary of Lebanon written by Tom Najem and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-06-15 with total page 435 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historical Dictionary of Lebanon, Second Edition covers the long history of Lebanon, from before the Ottoman era through the Ottoman Era, the French Mandate, Independence, the long civil war and the recent protests for democratic reform and the aftermath of the explosion in the port area. It features lengthy entries on major historical/political events as well as the major people, sectarian groups and political parties. It contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 800 cross-referenced entries on important personalities as well as aspects of the country’s politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Lebanon.

Download or read book The Breakdown of the State in Lebanon 1967 1976 written by Farid El Khazen and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-12-10 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why did the Lebanese state, the most open and democratic political system in the Middle East, break down between 1967 and 1976? In this major contribution to the debate, Fazel el-Khazen rejects the standard explanations of the Lebanese Civil War and argues instead that the causes were due to the official state ideology, which recognized diversity, dissent and a highly pluralistic population, and then specific external factors: pressures from the Arab-Israeli Conflict, inter-Arab rivalries, and the Palestine Liberation Organization's close connection to Lebanese politics. Using an historical analysis, el-Khazen sheds light on the political situation of the country in the lead up to the conflict and the major role Lebanon's neighbours had in the events. The detailed and comprehensive account uses interviews with the key protagonists in the civil war and analysis of unpublished sources to reveal how and why the breakdown took place.

Download or read book Lebanon written by Tom Najem and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-03-12 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a time of great political change and unrest in the Middle East, this highly topical text offers a succinct account of the contemporary political environment in Lebanon. Tom Najem provides both a developed understanding of the pre-civil war system and an analysis of how circumstances resulting from the civil war combined with essential pre-war elements to define politics in Lebanon. Systematically exploring Lebanon’s history, society and politics, the author stresses the importance of the crucial role of external actors in the Lebanese system. The analysis encompasses: the formation of the state weaknesses and dynamics of the Lebanese state the civil war post-war government and change the Lebanese economy foreign policy. Written in a clear and accessible manner, this book fills a conspicuous gap in the existing academic literature on Lebanon. It will be of interest not only to students of international politics and Middle East studies, but also to anyone travelling in or wanting to learn more about the region.

Download or read book The Government and Politics of Lebanon written by Imad Salamey and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-15 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Aiming to contribute to the reader’s greater understanding of Lebanese government and politics, this book provides a comprehensive examination of the origin, development, and institutionalization of sectarian consociationalism in Lebanon. A recurrent proposition advanced in this book is that Lebanese sectarian consociationalism has been both a cure and a curse in the formulation of political settlements and institution building. On the one hand, and in contrast to many surrounding Arab regimes, consociational arrangements have provided the country with a relative democratic political life. A limited government with a strong confessional division of power and a built-in checks and balance mechanism prevented the emergence of dictatorship or monarchy. On the other hand, a chronic weak state has complicated efforts for nation building in favour of sectarian fragmentation, external interventions, and strong polarization that periodically brought the country to the verge of total collapse and civil war. While examining Lebanese sectarian politics of conflict and concession during different historic junctures many revelations are made that underlie the role of domestic and international forces shaping the country’s future. Presenting an implicit description of the power and functions of the various branches of government within the context of sectarian consociationalism, this book is an important introductory text for students of Lebanese Politics and Middle Eastern politics more broadly.

Download or read book Annual Review of United Nations Affairs 2008 2009 written by Joachim Müller and published by . This book was released on 2010-04-15 with total page 550 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the publication of its first edition in 1950, the Annual Review of United Nations Affairs has stood as the authoritative resource for scholars, students, and practitioners researching the latest developments of that august body. From the insightful introduction, prepared each year by a distinguished expert on UN affairs, to the full-text presentation of reports and resolutions and the helpful subject index, ARUNA provides a practical tour of each year's U.N. actions and debates. Theexpert selection of documents by Joachim Muller and Karl Sauvant and the topic-based organization of those documents make any researcher's task much easier than the vast searching, sorting, and pruning required by the U.N.'s website. The series' topic-based organization of the materials and subject index lend invaluable guidance to all researchers. ARUNA presents a comprehensive documentation of the work of the UN on an annual basis, starting in September of each year with the beginning of the regular sessions of the General Assembly. Coverage of the UN's key organs is provided, including the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the International Court of Justice, and the UN Secretariat. In addition, selected reports of intergovernmental bodies and expert groups are included. Solely official UN documentation is used. ARUNA occupies a special place in the publications on the work of the UN - it allows readers to obtain an overview ofthe principal developments in its key organs. This makes it an important reference source for policy-makers and academic researchers. The highlight of this year's edition is the introductory essay written by the highly esteemed Jose Antonio Ocampo, who is Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs, Director of the Program in Economic and Political Development at the School of International and Public Affairs, and Fellow of the Committee on Global Thought, ColumbiaUniversity. Professor Ocampo previously held the positions of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Economic and Social Affairs, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, and Minister of Finance of Colombia. In 2009, he was a member of the Commission of Experts of the President of the United Nations General Assembly on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System. Professor Ocampo is also the author of numerousbooks and articles on macroeconomics policy and theory, economic development, international trade, and economic history. His recent publications include Stability with Growth: Macroeconomics, Liberalization and Development, with Joseph E. Stiglitz, Shari Spiegel, Ricardo Ffrench-Davis and Deepak Nayyar (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006). Professor Ocampo, relying on his expertise as a policy economist and his own considerable experience working on economic issues at the United Nations, has written an incisive introductory essay focusing on the United Nations and the global economic crisis. Professor Ocampo's essay examines the history of the economic policy recommendations of UN institutions and concludes that they have often been more far-sighted and accurate than those of the Bretton Woods Institutions, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. He applies this analysis in particular to the recent global financial crisis, and shows how the Monterrey Consensus of 2002, which once again made the UN a forum for global economic issues, gave serious consideration to the concerns of developing countries and set many goals that might have helped to stave off the global financial crisis if they had been more actively pursued. Professor Ocampo also examines the UN's role in the wake of the global financial meltdown, particularly with regard to the Doha follow-up Conference and the Commission of Experts on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System, convened by the General Assembly and led by Joseph Stiglitz. In spite of some resistance to these initiatives from the United States and other developed countries, Professor Ocampo advocates in this essay for a more influential role for the UN's institutions in global financial reform, especially in light of their superior track record in anticipating economic problems resulting from "the inherent tendency of financial markets to experience boom-bust cycles." The 2008-2009 volumes of ARUNA therefore also devote considerable attention to the financial crisis as well as other international crises. Among the documents in the 2008-2009 volumes are the complete General Assembly resolutions, as well as the Report and Resolutions of the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Annual Reports of note include reports of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN Development Programme and UN Population Fund, the UN High Commissioner for HumanRights, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugee in the Near East, and the World Food Programme. Mr. Muller and Dr. Sauvant have also selected progress reports on key peacekeeping, peace-building, and political missions, including those for Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Iraq, Kosovo, the Middle East, Somalia, Sudan, and West Africa. Each annual edition of ARUNA is introduced by a Guest Author, a distinguished expert on UN affairs, who highlights the outstanding themes of the year in review. Together with an overview provided by the editors, this introduction is intended to facilitate access to the material and, above all, to make it easer for users of ARUNA to "see the forest for the trees". As has been mentioned above, ARUNA is fortunate this year to have Jose Antonio Ocampo as the author of its introduction, but the roster of distinguished experts who have contributed this introduction in the past is also worthy of mention: Jeffrey D. Sachs: ARUNA 2007/2008 edition Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs is Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and Special Advisor to the Secretary-General of the UN on the Millennium Development Goals. Professor Sachs's introduction to ARUNA 2007/2008 was titled "Towards a New Global Protocol on Climate Change", in which he argued that solving the climate change problem will demand four steps: scientific consensus, public awareness, the development of alternative technologies, and a global framework for action. He dealt, in particular, with the science underpinning the negotiations for a new global protocol on climate change, as a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. Professor Sachs argued that climate change crises can only be solved through the goals, leadership, and treaty mechanisms of the UN. Edward C. Luck: ARUNA 2006/2007 edition Professor Edward C. Luck is UN Special Advisor on the Responsibility to Protect and Vice President and Director of Studies at the International Peace Academy. From 1984 to 1994, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the UN Association of the USA (UNA-USA). Professor Luck's introduction to ARUNA 2006/2007 covered "The responsible sovereign and the responsibility to protect", in which he addressed the scope and content of what was agreed at the 2005 World Summit, the implications of the responsibility to protect (RtoP) for notions of state sovereignty, and some of the conceptual, architectural, and policy challenges then facing UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's commitment to "operationalizing" the responsibility to protect and translating it "from words to deeds". Louise Frechette: ARUNA 2005/2006 edition Ms Louise Frechette is Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, Waterloo, Ontario. Until March 2006, she was the first Deputy Secretary-General of the UN; before that, she was Permanent Representative of Canada to the UN. Ms Frechette's introduction to ARUNA 2005/2006 covered "United Nations reform: an unfinished story". As the first Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, Ms Frechette was uniquely positioned to undertake a personal assessment of what has changed and what has not changed in the past decade at the UN and why. She examined if the UN is functioning better than it was 15 years ago, why reform is so difficult to achieve and what the future holds for the institutions. Rubens Ricupero: ARUNA 2004/2005 edition Mr Rubens Ricupero is Dean of the Fundacno Armando Alvares Penteado (FAAP), Sao Paulo and was formerly Secretary-General of UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Minister of Finance of Brazil. Mr Ricupero's introduction to ARUNA 2004/2005 covered "The difficulty of building consensus in an age of extremes" and examined the mysteries of the negotiating process leading to the outcome of the 2005 World Summit. Rather than a "Grand Bargain" of a comprehensive UN reformin the areas of development, security and human rights, it is argued that the Summit ended more on a note of lamentation and regret over a missed opportunity. Mr Ricupero concludes that contrary to the daring proclamation at the outset by the Secretary-General, the conditions indispensable to succeed were not in place. Indeed, it was hard to imagine that an ambitious and balanced reform package for the UN could have had any real chance of succeeding.

Download or read book Lebanon after the Syrian Withdrawal written by Ohannes Geukjian and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2016-11-10 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lebanon experienced serious instability and ethno-national conflict following the Syrian withdrawal in 2005, compounded by the Arab Spring, which led to regional instability and civil war in Iraq and Syria. Why did consociational democracy fail? Was failure inevitable? What impact could external powers play in creating an environment where consociationalism might be successfully implemented? This book addresses these key questions and provides a comprehensive analysis of how internal and external elite relations influence the chances of a successful regulation of ethno-national conflict through power-sharing. Exploring the roles played by Syria, Qatar, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United States and France, it argues that external actors in the Lebanese conflict largely determined whether power-sharing was successfully established and shows that the consociational democratic model cannot provide long-term conflict regulation in their absence. The author argues that relationships between internal and external actors determine the prospects for successful conflict regulation and pinpoints the crucial role of the external forces in the creation of power-sharing agreements in Lebanon concluding that future success is dependent on the maintenance of positive, exogenous pressures. This book will be of key interest to students and scholars studying politics, international relations, and Middle East studies.

Download or read book Annual Review of United Nations Affairs 2009 2010 VOLUME VII written by Joachim Muller and published by . This book was released on 2011-04-15 with total page 415 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: a. The set generallySince the publication of its first edition in 1950, the Annual Review of United Nations Affairs has stood as the authoritative resource for scholars, students, and practitioners researching the latest developments of that august body. From the insightful introduction, prepared each year by adistinguished expert on UN affairs, to the full-text presentation of reports and resolutions and the helpful subject index, ARUNA provides a practical tour of each year''s U.N. actions and debates. The expert selection of documents by Joachim Muller and Karl Sauvant and the topic-based organizationof those documents make any researcher''s task much easier than the vast searching, sorting, and pruning required by the U.N.''s website. The series'' topic-based organization of the materials and subject index lend invaluable guidance to all researchers.ARUNA presents comprehensive documentation of the work of the UN on an annual basis, starting in September of each year with the beginning of the regular sessions of the General Assembly. Coverage of the UN''s key organs is provided, including the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economicand Social Council (ECOSOC), the International Court of Justice, and the UN Secretariat. In addition, selected reports of intergovernmental bodies and expert groups are included. Solely official UN documentation is used. ARUNA occupies a special place in the publications on the work of the UN, as itallows readers to obtain an overview of the principal developments in its key organs. This makes it an important reference source for policy-makers and academic researchers.b. The 2009-2010 volumesThis year''s edition continues to focus on the world financial crisis and the reaction of the United Nations and the international financial system to that crisis. The Overview to this year''s edition, written by Joachim Muller and Karl Sauvant, examines the changing role of the United Nations andexplores ways in which the management of the financial crisis has impacted that role.The Introduction to this year''s edition also examines the effects of this crisis; this Introduction is drawn from the "Report of the Commission of Experts of the President of the United Nations General Assembly on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System," as well as a slightlyedited version of a Preface to that report written by Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz. The Introduction discusses the findings of the Commission and proposes the creation of a new institution, a Global Economic Coordination Council, which would be supported by an International Panel of Experts with ageographically diverse membership that would represent the interests of emerging and developing countries as well as those of developed countries.Dr. Joseph E. Stiglitz, who served as Chairman of the Commission and wrote the Preface to the Commission''s Report, holds joint professorships at Columbia University''s Economics Department and its Business School. He is also Co-founder and Co-President of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue. From 1997to 2000 he was the World Bank''s Senior Vice President for Development Economics and Chief Economist. From 1995 to 1997 he served as Chairman of the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers and as a member of President Clinton''s cabinet. From 1993 to 1995 he was a member of the Council of Economic Advisers.He was previously a professor of economics at Stanford, Princeton, Yale, and All Souls College. Dr. Stiglitz is also a leading scholar of the economics of the public sector and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001 in addition to the American Economic Association''s biennial John BatesClark Award in 1979. His recent publications include Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy (2010), Making Globalization Work (2006), Fair Trade for All (2005), and Globalization and its Discontents (2002).The 2009-2010 volumes of ARUNA therefore also devote considerable attention to the financial crisis as well as other international crises. Among the documents in the 2009-2010 volumes are the complete General Assembly resolutions, as well as the Report and Resolutions of the Security Council and theEconomic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Annual Reports of note include reports of the United Nations Children''s Fund (UNICEF), the UN Development Programme and UN Population Fund, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN Relief and Works Agency forPalestine Refugees in the Near East, and the World Food Programme. Mr. Muller and Dr. Sauvant have also selected progress reports on key peacekeeping, peace-building, and political missions, including those for Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Iraq, the Middle East, Sudan,and West Africa.c. Volume VII (this volume)This volume contains the following:Chapter 1: General Assembly, Sixty-fourth Session (continued)3. Resolutions Adopted by the General Assembly at Its Sixty-fourth Session (continued) (Resolutions 64/104 through 64/199)d. Guest Authors of previous years'' editionsEach annual edition of ARUNA is introduced by a Guest Author, a distinguished expert on UN affairs, who highlights the outstanding themes of the year in review. Together with an overview provided by the editors, this introduction is intended to facilitate access to the material and, above all, tomake it easer for users of ARUNA to "see the forest for the trees." This year''s ARUNA includes excerpts from the "Report of the Commission of Experts of the President of the United Nations General Assembly on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System" (21 Sept. 2009), and from aslightly edited version of a Preface to that report written by Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz. However, the roster of distinguished experts who have contributed this introduction in the past is also worthy of mention:Jose Antonio Ocampo: ARUNA 2008/2009 editionProfessor Jose Antonio Ocampo is Co-President of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue. He is also Professor in the School of International and Public Affairs and Fellow of the Committee on Global Thought at Columbia University. Professor Ocampo previously held the positions of Under-Secretary-Generalof the United Nations for Economic and Social Affairs, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, and Minister of Finance, Agriculture, and Planning of Colombia. In 2009, he was a member of the Commission of Experts of the President of theUnited Nations General Assembly on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System. Professor Ocampo is also the author of numerous books and articles on macroeconomics policy and theory, economic development, international trade, and economic history. His recent publications includeStability with Growth: Macroeconomics, Liberalization and Development, with Joseph E. Stiglitz, Shari Spiegel, Ricardo Ffrench-Davis and Deepak Nayyar (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006).Jeffrey D. Sachs: ARUNA 2007/2008 editionProfessor Jeffrey D. Sachs is Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and Special Advisor to the Secretary-General of the UN on the Millennium Development Goals. Professor Sachs''s introduction to ARUNA 2007/2008 was titled "Towards a New Global Protocol on Climate Change," in which heargued that solving the climate change problem will demand four steps: scientific consensus, public awareness, the development of alternative technologies, and a global framework for action. He dealt, in particular, with the science underpinning the negotiations for a new global protocol on climatechange, as a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. Professor Sachs argued that climate change crises can only be solved through the goals, leadership, and treaty mechanisms of the UN.Edward C. Luck: ARUNA 2006/2007 editionProfessor Edward C. Luck is UN Special Advisor on the Responsibility to Protect and Vice President and Director of Studies at the International Peace Academy. From 1984 to 1994, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the UN Association of the USA (UNA-USA). Professor Luck''sintroduction to ARUNA 2006/2007 covered "The responsible sovereign and the responsibility to protect," in which he addressed the scope and content of what was agreed at the 2005 World Summit, the implications of the responsibility to protect (RtoP) for notions of state sovereignty, and some of theconceptual, architectural, and policy challenges then facing UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon''s commitment to "operationalizing" the responsibility to protect and translating it "from words to deeds."Louise Frechette: ARUNA 2005/2006 editionMs Louise Frechette is Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, Waterloo, Ontario. Until March 2006, she was the first Deputy Secretary-General of the UN; before that, she was Permanent Representative of Canada to the UN. Ms Frechette''s introduction to ARUNA2005/2006 covered "United Nations reform: an unfinished story." As the first Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, Ms Frechette was uniquely positioned to undertake a personal assessment of what has changed and what has not changed in the past decade at the UN and why. She examined if the UN isfunctioning better than it was 15 years ago, why reform is so difficult to achieve and what the future holds for the institutions.Rubens Ricupero: ARUNA 2004/2005 editionMr Rubens Ricupero is Dean of the Fundacno Armando Alvares Penteado (FAAP), Sao Paulo and was formerly Secretary-General of UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Minister of Finance of Brazil. Mr Ricupero''s introduction to ARUNA 2004/2005 covered "The difficulty of building consensusin an age of extremes" and examined the mysteries of the negotiating process leading to the outcome of the 2005 World Summit. Rather than a "Grand Bargain" of a comprehensive UN reform in the area

Download or read book ISS 3 Political Culture and Conflict Resolution in the Arab World written by Benjamin MacQueen and published by Academic Monographs. This book was released on 2009-06-15 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Benjamin MacQueen presents an innovative and in-depth look at contemporary conflict resolution in the Arab Middle East, developing a unique theory of political culture through his analysis of peace processes in Lebanon and Algeria. Moving beyond conventional perspectives, Political Culture and Conflict Resolution in the Arab World highlights that while culture can serve as a key to resolving and transforming conflict, if neglected, it can act to worsen the conditions that lead to conflict. This book represents a critical advance in the study of conflict and its resolution in the Arab World.

Download or read book Religion National Identity and Confessional Politics in Lebanon written by R. Rabil and published by Springer. This book was released on 2011-09-12 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Against a background of weak and contested national identity and capricious interaction between religious affiliation and confessional politics, this book illustrates in detailed analysis this "comprehensive" project of Islamism according to its ideological and practical evolutionary change.

Download or read book Hezbollah written by Casey L. Addis and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2011-05 with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lebanon's Hezbollah (HZ) is a Shiite Islamist militia, political party, social welfare org., and U.S. State Dept.-designated terrorist org. Its armed element receives support from Iran and Syria and possesses paramilitary and unconventional warfare capabilities. In the wake of the summer 2006 war between Israel and HZ, and an armed domestic confrontation between HZ and rival Lebanese groups in May 2008, Lebanon's political process is now focused on HZ's future role in the country. Contents of this report: (1) Overview and Key Issues; (2) HZ's Origins; (3) HZ Today; (4) Implications for Lebanon; (5) Syria; (6) Iran; (7) HZ's International Activities; (8) Efforts to Combat HZ; (9) Options for Weakening HZ. Charts and tables. A print on demand report.

Download or read book Restoring Lebanon written by Nizar Y. Younes and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2018-03-23 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lebanon is a Middle Eastern country that has been inhabited for more than six thousand years, and today it has a population of four million with over eighteen different religious sects, many of which are Muslim or Christian. The country, however, is in an incessant struggle to institutionalize democracy in its most humane form, whereby everyone is included and democracy is neither the rule of the majority nor a political lobbying arena. Yet how can the people of Lebanon realize their vision of democracy in the face of religious sectarianism and the political system of confessionalism? In Restoring Lebanon, author, economist, and political theorist Nizar Y. Younes explores the problems inherent to the confessional system of governmenta form of government where every religious community secures some portion of the stateand argues instead how this partitioning of government practically results in the disintegration of the state and eradicates any notion of citizenship. In addition to digging further into the root of the barriers to institutionalism and development in Lebanon, Restoring Lebanon offers a roadmap for reform at the political, economic, and cultural levelsa reform geared toward creating a Lebanon that meets the aspirations of the Lebanese people. Lebanon needs a fair, clear social contractone that frees the Lebanese from the prison of sectarian confessionalism. A contract by the Lebanese and for the Lebanese can create the country we deserveone that represents Lebanons spirit, culture, and freedom.

Download or read book The Lebanese Forces written by Nader Moumneh and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2018-12-19 with total page 619 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, author Nader Moumneh–a Canadian senior policy adviser of Lebanese descent– examines the research of the formation and evolution of the Christian resistance in Lebanon he performed as a graduate student at the American University of Beirut in the early 1990s. He has conducted hundreds of lengthy interviews with senior Lebanese Forces leaders who were thoroughly impressed by his communicative yet assertive personality, his scrupulous presentation of facts, his obsessive attention to detail, and most importantly, his unwavering determination to unveil behind-the-scenes events. Mr. Moumneh drew upon his self-acquired persuasion tactics and negotiation strategies to earn the Lebanese Forces’ trust and gain access to top secret, never-before published information. Since then, he has continually revised and expanded the manuscript to address the rapidly changing situation in Lebanon and the Middle East. The Lebanese Forces: Emergence and Transformation of the Christian Resistance has taken twenty-five years to produce and is unique in its own right. Mr. Moumneh’s work is not a typical re-telling of the Lebanese crisis, rather it is a magnificent blend of skillful craftsmanship, an unprecedented wealth of painstakingly referenced chronological research and now declassified intelligence information.

Download or read book Lebanon and the Arab Uprisings written by Maximilian Felsch and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-06-23 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Arab uprisings have put Lebanon under increased strain. While the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt caused limited reverberations, the war in Syria echoed in the fine-tuned political and confessional balance of Lebanon. Over one million refugees, equal to one-quarter of Lebanon’s population, have moved in from Syria. The country’s economy and its already weak public infrastructure have been impacted heavily. Hizbullah’s engagement in Syria has posed questions about Lebanon’s disassociation policy. Terrorist attacks by ISIL and the growing risk of radicalization across the confessional spectrum have left the country at unease. However, Lebanon’s political elites have vowed to shield the country from regional turbulences. Lebanon recently saw a series of demonstrations because of the inability of the government to manage the garbage crisis, but it has been far from witnessing a large-scale citizen uprising similar to the 2005 Cedar Revolution or the revolts next door. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the current situation in Lebanon, and a detailed assessment of the difficulties which the country is currently facing.

Download or read book Democratisation and Power Sharing in Stormy Weather written by Tamirace Fakhoury Mühlbacher and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-11-14 with total page 471 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is democracy possible only in homogeneous societies? Does heterogeneity - clude a stable democracy? Throughout history, ethnic, linguistic, or religious homogeneity whether by circumstance, coercion, or choice, has seemingly been conducive to democracy. In France, democracy was established after the impo- tion of religious uniformity and the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The United States pulled in immigrants who renounced their original affiliations to forge a new identity in a newly born state. Still, defying assumptions, democracies have emerged in heterogeneous states such as the Swiss Confederation, the Successor States of the Holy Roman Empire and, later, those carved out of the previous colonial empires. One common feature is the failure of – often violent – attempts to enforce homogeneity, or the lack of any such attempt in the first place. In the course of time, these divided societies have learned to live in diversity, to pacify their differences, and to find a path - wards peace or at least accommodation. In sum, they went beyond forms of se- rating powers to sharing power. Whether defined by ethnicity, language, religion, or even ideology, communities agreed to a pact on participating in a joint gove- ment based on proportional or even equal representation. It is noteworthy that political systems based on power-sharing were long marg- al in mainstream political science which laid an emphasis on democratic tran- tions in homogeneous societies and on socio-economic or cultural prerequisites that facilitate the rise of democracy.