Lebanon's fragility: The case of the Civil War 1975-1990

Résumé du document

The states of the Arab East have always experienced challenging political and social issues mainly inherited from their creation by Great Powers after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Indeed, the Western organizational model of the time, i.e. nation-state, poorly fitted the regional realities. The concept had no historical antecedent in the political culture of Islam and neglected the sectarian component of the area. Lebanon was no exception. Since its independence in 1943, the country's growing instability ultimately led to the breakout of the civil war in 1975, which only really ended with the Taif Agreement fourteen years later. 1975 underlined a major shift in the perception of Lebanon abroad . Once thought as a liberal and tolerant state, dealing relatively efficiently with a deeply multi-confessional society, it became the symbol of political instability and radicalism.

Extraits

[...] (1993): 315-319 Kamal Salibi. A House of Many Mansions: the History of Lebanon reconsidered. London: I.B Tauris Ibid. Ibid. Yair Evron, War and Intervention in Lebanon. (Baltimore : The John Hopkins University Press, 1987) Helena Cobban, “Lebanon's Chinese Puzzle” in Foreign Policy, no.53 (1983): 34-48 Charles Winslow. Lebanon, War and Politics in a Fragmented Society. (London: Routledge, 1996) Helena Cobban, “Lebanon's Chinese Puzzle” in Foreign Policy, no.53 (1983): 34-48 Richard Hair Dekmejian. Consociational Democracy in Crisis, The Case of Lebanon in “Comparative Politics”. [...]

[...] Lebanon was no exception. Since its independence in 1943, the country's growing instability ultimately led to the breakout of the civil war in 1975, which only really ended with the Taif Agreement fourteen years later underlined a major shift in the perception of Lebanon abroad[2]. Once thought as a liberal and tolerant state, dealing relatively efficiently with a deeply multiconfessional society, it became the symbol of political instability and radicalism. Then, what can be learned from the situation of 1975 as far as Lebanon's internal fragility is concerned? [...]

[...] Vol.518 (1991): 82-94. Dekmejian, Richard Hair. “Consociational Democracy in Crisis, The Case of Lebanon” in Comparative Politics. Vol.10, no.2 (1978): 251-265. El-Khazen, Farid. The Breakdown of the State in Lebanon, 1967-1976. Cambridge: Harvard University Press Evron, Yair. War and Intervention in Lebanon. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press Fisk, Robert, Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War. London: A.deutch Kelidar, Abbas. “States Without Foundations: The Political Evolution of State and Society in the Arab East” in Journal of Contemporary History. Vol.28, no.2. [...]

[...] Indeed, the Maronite perception is in total contradiction with the one of the demographic dominant Muslim communities, but still remains the prevalent basis of the official view over Lebanon's history[39]. Bibliography Brynen, Rex. policy in Lebanon: Legacies and Lessons” in Journal of Palestine studies. Vol.18, no2 (1989) 48-70. Cobban, Helena, Lebanon's Chinese Puzzle in “Foreign Policy”, no.53 (1983): 34-48. Dawisha, Adeed. Syria and the Lebanese Crisis. New York: St Martin's Press Deeb, Marius. Syria's Terrorist War in Lebanon and the Peace Process. New York: Palgrave Macmillan Deeb, Mary Janes. [...]

[...] Indeed, religion remained considered as the main locus of communal identity[5]. The traditional leaders of each community, the zu'ama, played a central role in the moderation of social cleavages. Indeed, the power was divided among communities, based on the census of 1932. The presidency was hold by the Maronites, which represented the largest Christian group. Its historical relation with Rome defined it as the group on which Western powers, and a fortiori France, had to rely on in order to promote their interests in the region[6]. [...]