Lebanon has been in the news a lot lately. From union strikes to legal advocacy to intermittent Sunni-Shiite violence to daily Israeli violations of Lebanese sovereignty to the hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees currently living in Lebanon to the election crisis to the resignation of Prime Minister Miqati, Lebanon has been boiling for (at least) over two years. While the most interesting political developments have been the work of activist, civil society, and union groups in Lebanon, it is important to offer a primer of the “establishment” political actors in Lebanon, particularly as Lebanon will soon be holding Parliamentary elections. The men below are sure to be the stars of this electoral show.
Rafik al-Hariri was the ex-prime Minister of Lebanon and the most dominant Lebanese politician of the post civil war era. He was assassinated in 2005 and has been lionized by all political actors (particularly the March 14th alliance) since.
Saad al-Hariri is the former prime minister of Lebanon, the head of the Future movement, and the son of assassinated ex prime minister Rafik al-Hariri (see above). He currently claims to represent Sunni Lebanese from his apartment in Paris or his boat on the south of France or his settlement on the moon. When he tries to formulate political opinions, he sounds like this:
The Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party (SSNP) continues to be an ally to the ruthless and beleaguered regime of Bashar al-Assad. They are supposedly a “secular” party but practice violence and thuggishness quite religiously. The SSNP are part of the March 8th coalition, where their preferred role seems to be that of “enforcer.”
Saudi Arabia is currently locked in a cold war with Iran that has been transfigured into gas that fuels Sunni-Shiite sectarianism in Lebanon. As the premiere sectarian, sexist, xenophobic, and wealthy Arab country, Saudi Arabia's influence over the region can be best categorized by this musical interlude: