Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
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The best hope for reconciliation and democracy promotion in the Arab world comes from a focus on economic reform and other concrete issues.
After the war of last summer, Lebanon had settled back into a pretense of normality, shattered periodically by massive demonstrations in the streets of the capital, as Hizbollah mustered its supporters in an attempt to force the government to call for early elections. The government refused to give in. Hizbollah is now trying to break the impasse.
An in-depth look into the mindset of Hizbollah’s leadership, including their priorities, justifications for continued armament, and animosity towards the U.S. Through unprecedented access to high-ranking Hizbollah officials, including Hizbollah’s Deputy Secretary General.
Saad-Ghorayeb, a Lebanese political analyst writing from Beirut, draws on interviews she carried out with Hizbollah officials both before and after the outbreak of fighting in mid-July to provide vital insights into the causes and consequences of the war with Israel.
Mass demonstrations in Lebanon, joint protest rallies of Egyptian Islamists and liberals against the Mubarak regime in Egypt, and municipal elections in Saudi Arabia are just as much features of the current situation as are cease-fire declarations by Palestinian resistance movements and multiparty negotiations for forming a coalition government in Iraq.
The assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri has forced the Lebanese to confront one another on the question of Syria’s role in the Lebanese political system and has pitted pro-Syria politicians with vested interests in the status quo against an increasingly vocal opposition movement backed by popular demonstrations.