Harari, billionaire merchant, master manipulator and Prime Minister Modern Lebanon, like most of the nations in the modern Middle East, The curious thing about the Syrian invasion and forced peace is the For 30 years after its "independence" from France in 1946, Lebanon existed, For a long time, as improbable as it seemed, this worked. We remember, But at some point during the 70’s things got out of control, During the height of the Lebanese Civil War, there were so many players, The situation was so chaotic and potentially infectious that the world As a curious and significant result of the Lebanese war, there has been The theory of comparative advantage says that each country has a natural Now the fear is that if the Syrians withdraw, sectarian fighting will RAFIK HARIRI has joined a pantheon of modern Middle Eastern statesmen Personally, the Dowbrigade has long believed, (an opinion we share with article Lebanon, the modern incarnation of the Phoenician Empire, is in the news again. The latest development has the US and UN poobahs trying to use the recent assassination of Rafik Harari to pressure Syria to withdraw from Lebanon after 15 years … Continue reading ![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/lebanonn.jpg\")
Lebanon<\/a>,
\n the modern incarnation of the Phoenician Empire, is in the news again. The
\n latest development has the US and UN poobahs trying to use the recent
\n assassination of Rafik
\n Harari <\/a>to pressure
\n Syria
\n to withdraw from Lebanon after 15 years of militarily imposed "peace".
\n This could be a dangerous move. Advocating it certainly was for Harari.<\/p>\n
\n during most of the period of Syrian domination, had recently broken with
\n the Syrian government and advocated their withdrawal, daring to dream
\n that it was finally time to recreate an independent and multicultural
\n Lebanon.<\/p>\n
\n was created by European fiat in 1926, with the breakup of the Ottoman
\n Empire, and therein lies the rub. In a fit of geopolitical hubris
\n that marked their last serious act as the world’s major power brokers,
\n the Europeans, acting under the guise of the League of Nations, carved
\n up the cradle of world oil like a Christmas ham, and divided the spoils
\n between them. The crescent of biblical real estate we call Lebanon was
\n awarded to the French.<\/p>\n
\n legendary Lebanese avocation and skill in politics, at home and around
\n the world. Usually,
\n when a reasonably stable country is forced to impose on a neighbor to
\n curb chaos, anarchy and governmental breakdown, it is because of political
\n incompetence, lack of solid leaders or a breakdown of civil norms. In
\n the case of Lebanon, the situation spun out of control due to an EXCESS
\n of talented politicians, inspirational leaders, active political parties
\n and jury rigged political arrangements.<\/p>\n
\n even thrived, as a complex but functional balancing act between nearly
\n equal Christian, Sunni and Shi’ite populations. They arrived at
\n a compromise in which the president must be a Maronite Christian, the
\n prime
\n minister
\n must be a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of the legislature must be a
\n Shi’a Muslim.<\/p>\n
\n growing up, when Lebanon was considered a garden state in the desert
\n of Arabia, the Switzerland of the Middle East, a beacon of multi-cultural
\n tolerance, pragmatic functionalism and regional headquarters of big
\n business and banking. We had it on our list of "must-visit" countries,
\n especially after finding out they produced a dynamite brand of blond
\n hashish.<\/p>\n
\n politics got
\n taken
\n to
\n the
\n next level,
\n and
\n the labyrinthine
\n complexity and organizational talent of the Lebanese was channeled
\n out of politics and capitalism and into the most savage and destructive
\n internecine warfare the world had ever seen up to that point.<\/p>\n
\n factions, armies, power centers, movements and militia’s that nobody
\n could tell them apart without a program, and a program was not available.
\n It was less a civil war (which implies two sides), than a free-for-all,
\n all-comers-welcome steel-cage death match which featured the popularization
\n of many of the modus operandi with which we have unfortunately become
\n so familiar; the drive-by shooting, the remote-control car bombs, the
\n selective set-ups and assassinations, the suicide bombs, death squads
\n and flaming martyrs screaming joyfully to their rewards.<\/p>\n
\n looked on in cautious support when Syria moved in to impose some sort
\n of order and stop the violence. No one imagined they would still be there
\n 25 years later.<\/p>\n
\n a diaspora of sorts, involving Lebanese politicians. All over the Middle
\n East, Latin America, and parts of Europe and Asia, Lebanese politicians
\n have
\n used their innate gifts to rise to positions of power in their adopted
\n homelands. We know first-hand that in Ecuador, the majority of
\n the prominent politicians, with names like Bucharam, Nebot and Mahoud
\n are originally from Lebanon – in fact, from two small villages of Maronite
\n Christians who for some reason decided Ecuador was the place to be. Similar
\n situations exist throughout Latin America.<\/p>\n
\n advantage in production of certain goods and services. We would
\n hold that each country is also the best at producing certain kinds of
\n individuals, with certain skills, talents and innate capacity in one
\n particular area of human endeavor. In Lebanon it appears to be
\n politicians.<\/p>\n
\n break out again between Sunnis, Shi’ites and Christians. However,
\n given the newly resuscitated hope for some kind of positive resolution
\n in the region, it may be time to let the Lebanese try again. Given their
\n historical position and national inclinations, it seems obvious that
\n Lebanon will play an important role in the coming denouement -either
\n as part of
\n the problem or as part of the solution.<\/p>\n\n
\n — King Faisal Al Saud, President Anwar Sadat, and Prime Minister Itzhak
\n Rabin — who dared to challenge the status quo and paid dearly for their
\n vision.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n Usama Bin Laden), that the root of the problem lies in that gang of jaded
\n European
\n power-mongers who sat down with a map of the Ottoman Empire and, besotted
\n with petro-lust, started drawing lines in the sand. Until that
\n historic perfidy is redressed, hopes for a rational and equitable solution
\n to the "Middle East Problem" will remain a seductive mirage.<\/p>\n
\n from the Boston
\n Globe<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"