Report Outline
Continuing Bloodshed and Chaos
Roots of Current Sectarianism
Difficulty in Resolving Conflicts
Continuing Bloodshed and Chaos
Religious Factionalism; Khomeini's Impact
The question is whether Lebanon, like Humpty Dumpty, can be put back together again. The answer to that question will determine more than the survival of a strife-torn nation once acclaimed as the “Switzerland of the Middle East.” Lebanon long has been prey to acute religious conflicts, which now are also convulsing Iran and creating destabilizing influences elsewhere in the Middle East. The passage of time since the 1975–76 Lebanese civil war has not improved the prospects for accommodation among the many embittered factions and the outside interventionists in Lebanon. It thus remains, apart from Iran, the most volatile country in the most volatile area of the world.
Religious and sectarian factionalism has a long history in Lebanon. Christians and Moslems have been feuding for centuries. The French, who gained control of Lebanon after World War I, tried to bring about a workable political structure in 1943 with a compromise agreement among the six major religious groups — the Maronite, Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic Christians and the Sunni, Shiite and Druze Moslems. The unwritten National Pact of that year was based on a 1932 census in which Christians, particularly the Maronites, outnumbered Moslems; by common consent, only a Maronite would occupy the presidency. Successive presidents used that office to block another census.
It is widely believed that a new census would show a Moslem majority, with the Shiites as the largest religious group in the country. Lebanese Shiites, generally poor and powerless, have been looked down on by both Christians and Sunni Moslems. Until his mysterious disappearance in August 1978, Shiite religious leader Iman Musa Sadr repeatedly pressed the government for more attention and benefits for his people. While Sadr remains a powerful symbol, another Shiite leader, Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, has become a popular hero to some Lebanese Shiites. |
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Israel, Palestine, and Middle East Peace |
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Dec. 11, 2020 |
The Abraham Accords |
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Apr. 13, 2018 |
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict |
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Mar. 09, 2018 |
Saudi Arabia's Uncertain Future |
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Jun. 21, 2013 |
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict |
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May 2009 |
Middle East Peace Prospects |
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Oct. 27, 2006 |
Middle East Tensions  |
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Jan. 21, 2005 |
Middle East Peace |
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Aug. 30, 2002 |
Prospects for Mideast Peace |
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Apr. 06, 2001 |
Middle East Conflict |
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Mar. 06, 1998 |
Israel At 50 |
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Aug. 30, 1991 |
The Palestinians |
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Oct. 19, 1990 |
The Elusive Search for Arab Unity |
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Feb. 24, 1989 |
Egypt's Strategic Mideast Role |
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Apr. 15, 1988 |
Israel's 40-Year Quandary |
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Mar. 02, 1984 |
American Involvement in Lebanon |
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Nov. 12, 1982 |
Reagan's Mideast Peace Initiative |
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Apr. 23, 1982 |
Egypt After Sadat |
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Jan. 04, 1980 |
Divided Lebanon |
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Jul. 20, 1979 |
West Bank Negotiations |
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Dec. 01, 1978 |
Middle East Transition |
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Jan. 13, 1978 |
Saudi Arabia's Backstage Diplomacy |
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Oct. 29, 1976 |
Arab Disunity |
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May 16, 1975 |
Middle East Diplomacy |
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Sep. 13, 1974 |
Palestinian Question |
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Dec. 12, 1973 |
Middle East Reappraisal |
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Apr. 25, 1973 |
Israeli Society After 25 Years |
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Aug. 19, 1970 |
American Policy in the Middle East |
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Apr. 25, 1969 |
Arab Guerrillas |
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Aug. 02, 1967 |
Israeli Prospects |
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Jul. 06, 1966 |
Middle East Enmities |
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Apr. 14, 1965 |
Relations with Nasser |
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Aug. 17, 1960 |
Arab-Israeli Deadlock |
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May 27, 1959 |
Middle East Instability |
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Jun. 04, 1958 |
Nasser and Arab Unity |
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Oct. 02, 1957 |
Soviet Threat in Middle East |
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Sep. 18, 1956 |
Suez Dispute and Strategic Waterways |
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May 09, 1956 |
Middle East Commitments |
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Apr. 13, 1955 |
Middle East Conflicts |
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Mar. 31, 1954 |
Security in the Mideast |
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Oct. 23, 1952 |
Israel and the Arab States |
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Jan. 30, 1952 |
Egyptian Crisis and Middle East Defense |
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Mar. 17, 1948 |
Palestine Crisis |
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Feb. 18, 1946 |
Soviet Russia and the Middle East |
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