Lebanon

Located in the Middle East, Lebanon is a small country with an area of 10,452 square kilometers (4,035 square miles). Beirut is the capital city. Syria borders it to the north and the east, Israel to the south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. It does not have any abundance of natural resources except water, a significant commodity in an area facing scarcity of that resource.

Lebanon's population is estimated to be around 3.7 million, although no census has been administered since 1932. The population is thought to be equally divided between Muslims and Christians. However, this claim has been challenged, and some researchers have put the percentage of Muslims (Sunnis, Shiites, Druze, and Alawite) at 60 percent and Christians (Maronites, Greek Orthodox, Catholics, and Christian minorities) at 40 percent. What makes the division between Muslims and Christians more complicated is the fact that there are seventeen different officially recognized religious sects in the country, each of which is represented in some way in state political and bureaucratic positions.

Each of the major religious groups is given a share in the Lebanese state of approximately: Maronites, 27 percent; Shiites, 21 percent; Sunnis, 21 percent; Greek Orthodox, 11 percent; Druze, 6 percent; and Catholics, 6 percent. This "confessional" distribution of political seats and positions was thought to be necessary due to the different perceptions regarding Lebanon's identity: Whereas the Sunni Muslims saw Lebanon as an Arab state, the Christians saw it as a non-Arab state, closer to Western civilization. This representational democracy system, through which Lebanese pluralism could be safeguarded and "unity in plurality" promoted, was reflected in an accord between the leaders of the Maronites and the Sunnis, known as the National Pact of 1943.

The National Pact governed the relation among the different communities and distributed powers in the state according to sects, giving the Christians—considered a majority at the time—the biggest share. The National Pact was successful in maintaining peaceful relations among Lebanese but failed to take into account the demographic changes that took place throughout the subsequent years. In addition to the change in demographics, the concentration of power in the hands of a few leaders, the arrival of the leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1970 to Lebanon, and external interventions from Arab and Western countries rendered Lebanon's already weak unwritten agreement ineffective and unrepresentative of reality.

All these factors, in turn, led to the eruption of a civil war, which started in 1975 and lasted for fifteen years. The Taef Agreement, brokered in late 1989 by the surviving members of the last Lebanese elected parliament in 1972 with the help and support of Saudis, Syrians, and Americans in Taef, Saudi Arabia, ended the civil war and brought about peace. The agreement amended the existing distribution of power formula and introduced the equal allocation of seats to replace the previous ratio of six Christian deputies to five Muslims. To have such equality, the parliament's membership was increased from 99 to 128.

After the end of the civil war in 1990, the reconstruction of Lebanon and the rebuilding of its economy led to a 9 percent growth between the years 1990 and 1998. However, the burden of such endeavors after a devastating war caught up with the country in 1998, and it entered into a recession.

Lebanon is a constitutional democratic republic. The ruling players are the president, the legislatures, the council of ministers, and the prime minister. Lebanon's legislative institution is unicameral composed of 128 deputies divided equally between Muslims and Christians and directly elected by the people for four-year terms. The parliament elects the president for a six-year term and elects the speaker for a four-year term. The bureaucracy in Lebanon is also a reflection of the society and its composition; it plays an important role in providing favors to the different sects. The judiciary is an independent branch but still faces strong pressures from the different political players.

From the time of the civil war until 2005, Syria maintained troops in Lebanon, resulting in some power over Lebanese political affairs and decisions by Syria. Despite the pullout of Syrian troops from Lebanon in 2005, Syrian influence—especially in the struggle between pro- and anti-Syrian Lebanese—remained strong, albeit controversial.

Liberty and freedom of speech are respected in Lebanon, and the Lebanese people have assured that by the many demonstrations that have taken place to protect them. Moreover, the people are free from torture, imprisonment, and disappearance in obscure ways. However, the Lebanese security forces sometimes violate these rights and are challenged by a number of different organizations and leaders who fight to keep all human rights respected.

Syria.

Ellis, Kail C. Lebanon's Second Republic: Prospects of the Twenty-first Century. Miami: University Press of Florida, 2002.

Harris, William. Faces of Lebanon: Sects, Wars, and Global Extensions. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener Publishers, 1997.

Hudson, Michael C. The Precarious Republic; Political Modernization in Lebanon. New York: Random House, 1968.

"Lebanon." CIA World Factbook. Washington, DC: U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 2004. <http://www.cia.gov/cia/publicat ions/factbook/geos/le.html>.

U.S. Department of State. Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. "Lebanon." Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2003. Washington, DC.

Yaniv, Avner, and Robert J. Lieber. "Personal Whim or Strategic Imperative? The Israeli Invasion of Lebanon." International Security 8, no. 2 (1983):117–142.

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