EPC | 03 Mar 2021
The call by Maronite Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rai for a special international conference, under the auspices of the United Nations, to help Lebanon get out of its crises, came after the political class failed to find solutions to the miserable conditions experienced by this country. Al-Rai’s call has received the support of a wide spectrum of Christians, Sunnis and Druze, in addition to opponents of Hezbollah among the Shiites.
EPC | 05 Oct 2020
The US-mediated "framework agreement" that was reached between Lebanon and Israel regarding negotiation over the delimitation of the maritime boundaries, which was announced at the beginning of October 2020, raises a question about whether this agreement is a prelude to the emergence of new dynamics that would rearrange the regional scene and its equations.
EPC | 17 Sep 2020
On 13 September 2020, the President of the Free Patriotic Movement in Lebanon Gebran Bassil stated that Hezbollah has begun to think of returning from Syria, calling on the Lebanese to embrace and support this decision. This announcement sparked mixed reactions about its accuracy, seriousness, and whether it was merely a political manoeuvre with specific goals.
EPC | 11 Aug 2020
The recent explosions in Beirut port took place at the peak of the mobilization between Israel and Hezbollah against the backdrop of targeting one of Hezbollah’s leaders in Syria and Hezbollah’s threat to retaliate against his killing. Beirut’s horrific explosion has generated a new scene and created different facts in the Lebanese and regional arenas. They are likely to have repercussions on the conditions of the actors, especially Hezbollah which is driven to search for different paths in dealing with many of the issues it faces internally and externally, including the issue of escalation with Israel or the risk of opening a large-scale war front in the region.
Mohamad Kawas | 27 May 2020
Debate has returned anew in Lebanon over the existence of serious and increasing international interest in controlling the border with Syria. There has been an increase in positions that shed light on the smuggling phenomenon through 161 corridors on Lebanon’s eastern border, constituting the largest waste outlet of the country’s economic resources.
Kamal Hamdan | 18 Mar 2020
The debt crisis in Lebanon has reached unprecedented levels, pushing the Government to announce the suspension of foreign debt payments in what has been described as an “historical precedent”. This paper examines the nature of the crisis and the challenges faced, as well as possible solutions.
EPC | 04 Nov 2019
On October 29, 2019, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri tendered his resignation to President Michel Aoun. While this has satisfied the first of the demands called for during the popular protests that have gripped parts of the country for 13 days, the contest to form a new government in one form or another is certain to dominate the Lebanese arena over the coming period.