In bringing down its government last week, did Lebanon just witness a coup d’etat or did it narrowly dodge civil war? Either way, Damascus, Tehran, and Washington are all watching.
Today, billions of dollars in aid is delivered by soldiers and private contractors at the behest of the political and military leadership. But this so-called "militarized aid" is ineffective, wasteful, and puts lives at risk.
Hirst presents a history of Lebanon's regional diplomacy since the late nineteenth century, and Young's book is a meditation on the distinctive Lebanese cluster of religious communities that falls short of being a viable state.
