Publication

This article reviews the current political status of Lebanon, with a particular emphasis on 1) the country’s inability to pick a new president since the departure of Michel Suleiman in 2014, and 2) Hezbollah’s domestic-regional status. While exploring these themes, the article’s author looks at the different presidential candidates that have been offered up by key Lebanese political groups since Suleiman’s demise; the impact of the Syrian conflict on Lebanon; and Lebanon’s relations with the US and the Arab world. Ultimately, the author concludes that with the presidential vacuum getting wider and deeper, governmental authority receding, parliamentary inactivity feeding the demise of democracy, and Hezbollah continuing to hijack the country with Iran’s assistance, Lebanon seems to be heading once again into the abyss.