Lebanon

With election of nationalist president, Lebanon moves to exit the Axis of Resistance

With a nearly unanimous 99 out of 128 votes, the Lebanese parliament elected the head of the army, Gen. Joseph Aoun, as Lebanon’s 14th president on Jan. 9. In a strong inaugural speech Aoun laid out an ambitious agenda premised on regaining the Lebanese state’s monopoly of the use of force, securing the country’s borders and ports, strengthening the rule of law, and encouraging a raft of long-overdue reforms.