Lebanon: Deal Or No Deal

Posted by Matt in June 23rd, 2008

An appearance of peace has returned to Lebanon; but as Hezbollah grows in power, political tensions are becoming palpable. Has the country finally entered a long-term settlement, or are we witnessing the preliminaries to a new conflict?

Thanks to massive financial and military backing from Iran and Syria, Hezbollah has emerged as a powerhouse over the past years. Keen to display its power, it has repeatedly had the upper hand in skirmishes with government forces. A traditional enemy of Israel, Hezbollah has recently shifted its attention to Lebanon. Sunnis and supporters of the government have now become terrified to speak out against it: ‘I doubt the Lebanese president can do anything about them because they see themselves as stronger than the state. They are a state within a state’, says a leader of the Future Movement. Lebanese society is divided between pro-Hezbollah and pro-government factions, which is most visible in the hostility between Sunnis and Shias but has lately spread to other communities. With the 2009 elections looming, the Christian vote has become a vital political battleground. And in some ways the split emerging among them is more significant than the Sunni-Shia divide. Militias are forming in the suburbs of Beirut and tensions keep rising. Is this the build-up to a new civil war?

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Published in Middle East, Beirut, Christian Vote, Civil War, Deal Or No Deal, Factions, Government Forces, hezbollah, Hostility, Lebanese President, Lebanese Society, Lebanon, Militias, Political Battleground, Political Tensions, Powerhouse, Preliminaries, Skirmishes, Sunni Shia, Sunnis And Shias, Traditional Enemy

Map for Beirut, Lebanon

[Countries link to CIA Factbook. States link to Wikipedia.]

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