Hizballah: The murderers of elected Lebanese politicians, the killers of peacekeepers, the thugs of the streets they dominated because all other militias had disarmed, the agents of destruction of their own communities on behalf of foreign paymasters reigning 1,000 miles away from Beirut, the brainwashers of children into an ideology of “resistance” that only invited invasion. That’s the Hizballah that today is begging the Lebanese state to return to them the 1,000 pounds of explosives so rudely taken from them by Lebanese soldiers doing their job at a checkpoint in the Bekaa Valley.
In less than two decades, a string of offshore discoveries has turned the Eastern Mediterranean into a significant gas-producing region, making Israel an exporter, twice lifting Egypt into the ranks of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporters, and giving Cyprus finds it has yet to bring to market. This backgrounder explores the potential and challenges of exploiting and managing LNG resources in the region.
How Lebanon can be Trump’s first success in a troubled region
The Trump administration has done more than any of its predecessors to restore sovereignty for a much traumatized nation, Lebanon. The Israel Defense Forces’ operations in 2024 against Hezbollah decimated that organization, long the “A Team” in global terror.
Political Complexities of Return: Syrian Refugees in Lebanon
This essay explores political complexities of the country hosting the highest number of refugees per capita worldwide: Lebanon. Rampant corruption and sectarian rhetoric paired with political complexities now threaten the lives and futures of Syrians residing in Lebanon. This article discusses two of these major complexities below and explain their implications on Lebanese and Syrians residing in some of the country’s most impoverished areas.
Monday Briefing: Troubled paths ahead for US and Iran
In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts Paul Salem, Randa Slim, and Marvin G. Weinbaum provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including the anniversary of the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, the economic crisis in Lebanon, and ongoing peace talks in Afghanistan.
Monday Briefing | Iraq: Outreach abroad, but troubles at home
In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts Randa Slim, Charles Lister, Gerald Feierstein, and Paul Salem provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including Iraqi Prime Minister Abdul-Mahdi’s first foreign trip to Egypt, the future threat posed by ISIS, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s AIPAC meeting in Washington, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Lebanon.
Why Assad’s alliance with Iran and Hezbollah will endure
This article was published by IranSource on February 6, 2019.
The Tehran-Damascus-Hezbollah trilateral partnership has been decades in the making. It pre-dates the Syrian civil war, has strengthened as a result of the war and will likely endure in the post-war years.
Hariri announces another flawed government, but don’t walk away from Lebanon
After nine months of deadlock, Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri announced the formation of a new government of 30 ministers. The composition of the government is reflective of Lebanon’s power-sharing system and of the results of the last parliamentary elections.
Monday Briefing: US-Taliban talks progress, but major obstacles remain
In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts Ahmad Majidyar, Marvin G. Weinbaum, Randa Slim, Paul Salem, and Guney Yildiz provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including U.S. negotiations with the Taliban in Afghanistan, a warning sent to Israel by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, the Sudanese president’s appeal for external support, Turkish-Syrian diplomacy, and Pakistan’s acceptance of Gulf aid.
Security sector reform and the Internal Security Forces in Lebanon
Donor-backed reform efforts in the Lebanese Internal Security Forces have shown good results in a jurisdiction in Beirut. While imperfect and limited in scope, these results are encouraging, as obstacles to the provision of fair and effective policing in Lebanon are myriad.
Weekly Briefing: Failed Arab Economic Summit in Beirut underscores divisions
In this week’s Weekly Briefing, contributors Paul Salem, Marvin G. Weinbaum, William Lawrence, Ruba Husari, and Jean-François Seznec provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including the Arab Economic Summit held in Beirut this weekend, Afghanistan’s upcoming presidential elections, strikes in Tunisia, the Trump administration’s next steps on Iranian oil policy, and Saudi Aramco’s $10B bond issue.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun and Hezbollah remain at loggerheads over the formation of a new government. The dispute has now entered its eighth month and the country is slowly tiptoeing towards a financial crisis.
The Sectarian Dimension of the Syrian Civil War and Lebanese-Syrian Relations
The eruption of conflict between the Syrian regime and the armed opposition exacerbated the political and sectarian divisions within the Lebanese government, causing it to sever relations with Damascus and dissociate itself from the war. Nevertheless, the Lebanese government eventually was forced to coordinate with the Assad regime in order to manage the refugee crisis and other spillover effects of the conflict. Beirut’s dealings with Damascus reflect the overarching aim of mitigating the impact of the war on the relations between the Lebanese Sunni and Shiite communities.
A tale of two elections: recapping the polls in Lebanon and Iraq
As Lebanon holds its first parliamentary elections in nine years and Iraq paves a way forward in the aftermath of the war against ISIS, many questions remain as to what the political future holds for both countries. The parliamentary elections in Lebanon on May 6, and in Iraq on May 12, serve as a barometer for transparency, inclusion, and the political realities in both countries. The polls have raised pressing political and governance issues such as how to overcome sectarianism, corruption, and economic stagnation in order to encourage further openness and plurality.
The oldest peer-reviewed publication dedicated to the study of the modern Middle East, MEI’s flagship journal covers politics, society, and culture in the region.
