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Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east, by Israel to the south, and by the Mediterranean Sea to the west; Cyprus lies a short distance away from the country's coastline. Lebanon's location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterlands has contributed to the country's rich history and shaped a unique cultural identity denoted by religious diversity. Located in the Levant region of the Eastern Mediterranean, the country has a population of more than five million people and covers an area of 10,452 square kilometres (4,036 sq mi). Lebanon's capital and largest city is Beirut, followed by Tripoli and Jounieh. While Arabic is the official language, French is also recognized in a formal capacity; Lebanese Arabic is the country's vernacular, though French and English play a relatively significant role in everyday life, with Modern Standard Arabic being limited to news and government matters.
The foreign policy of Lebanon reflects its geographic location, the composition of its population, and its reliance on commerce and trade. Until 2005, Lebanon's foreign policy had been heavily influenced by Syria, however beginning with the formation of Hezbollah in 1982, Iran had gradually grown to heavily influence Lebanon.
Émile Jamil Lahoud is a Lebanese politician who served as the 16th president of Lebanon from 1998 to 2007. His main foreign policy achievement was to end the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon in May 2000, which had been occupied since 1982. He downplayed sectarianism and rearmed the Lebanese army, with help from Syria. However, factionalism and Lebanon's politics undermined his strength.
Michel Naim Aoun is a Lebanese politician and former military general who served as the President of Lebanon from 31 October 2016 until 30 October 2022.
Abdul Halim Khaddam was a Syrian politician who served as interim President of Syria in 2000. He also was Vice President of Syria and "High Commissioner" to Lebanon from 1984 to 2005. He was long known as a loyalist of Hafez Assad until he resigned from his position and left the country in 2005 in protest against certain policies of Hafez's son and successor, Bashar Assad. He accumulated substantial wealth while in office: a Credit Suisse account, opened in 1994, was nearly 90 million Swiss francs in September 2003, per Suisse secrets.
Marwan Hamadeh is a Lebanese journalist and politician, who served in various capacities in different cabinets, including minister of education, minister of telecommunications, minister of economy and trade, minister of tourism, minister of health and minister for the displaced. He served as a member of the Lebanese parliament until his resignation, on 5 August 2020, after the explosions in Beirut claiming that the government was "ineffective" to handle the incident.
The Lebanese people are the people inhabiting or originating from Lebanon. The term may also include those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon Mountains prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state. The major religious groups among the Lebanese people within Lebanon are Shia Muslims (27%), Sunni Muslims (27%), Maronite Christians (21%), Greek Orthodox Christians (8%), Melkite Christians (5%), Druze (5.2%), Protestant Christians (1%). The largest contingent of Lebanese, however, comprise a diaspora in North America, South America, Europe, Australia and Africa, which is predominantly Maronite Christian.
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An indirect presidential election was held in the Parliament of Lebanon on 25 May 2008, after the term of incumbent President Émile Lahoud expired on 24 November 2007 at midnight. General Michel Sleiman, the Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, was elected as the consensus candidate after months of delays in holding the election due to an ongoing political dispute.
Najib Azmi Mikati is a Lebanese politician and businessman, and three-time Prime Minister of Lebanon whose current term began in September 2021. He also serves as the resigned prime minister of a cabinet that, when assembled with a majority of its members, acts as President of Lebanon for emergency situations, since the end of the term of president Michel Aoun in October 2022. He previously served as Prime Minister from June 2011, to February 2014, and from April to July 2005. He also served as Minister of Public Works and Transport from December 1998 to 2003.
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The 17 October Protests, commonly referred to as the 17 October Revolution were a series of civil protests in Lebanon that began after the Lebanese cabinet announced financial measures on 17 October 2019. These national protests were triggered by planned taxes on gasoline, tobacco, and VoIP calls on applications such as WhatsApp, but quickly expanding into a country-wide condemnation of sectarian rule, the stagnation of the economy, unemployment, endemic corruption in the public sector, legislation that was perceived to shield the ruling class from accountability and failures of the government to provide basic services such as electricity, water, and sanitation.
A new Lebanese cabinet led by Prime Minister Hassan Diab was formed in Lebanon on 21 January 2020, after agreement was reached by the heads of the involved political parties after nearly three months. The already delegitimized government assigned Diab and his new cabinet, despite ongoing public outrage against the new cabinet and citizen requests for a competent, independent, and technocratic government. The marketing campaign by the authoritative powers around the new cabinet were mired by obvious untruths such as Diab claiming to have met "representatives of the thawra" but turned out to be regime supporters or the regime using the term "techno-political" to describe the new cabinet in order to justify the majority partisan appointments. Diab was appointed prime minister by President Michel Aoun following the resignation of Saad Hariri following the 2019–20 Lebanese protests, that started in October 2019. On 10 August 2020, the government resigned following public anger over the 2020 Beirut explosions on 4 August but continues to govern as a caretaker government.
In Lebanon, the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has resulted in 1,238,552 confirmed cases and 10,936 all-time deaths after COVID-19 was confirmed to have reached Lebanon in February 2020.
References
- ↑ Yitzhak Oron, Ed. (1961). Middle East Record Volume 2, 1961. The Moshe Dayan Center. pp. 413–. GGKEY:4Q1FXYK79X8. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
- ↑ Who's Who in Lebanon (19th ed.). Beirut: Publitec Publications. 2007. p. 298. doi:10.1515/9783110945904.476. ISBN 978-3-598-07734-0.
- ↑ "LEBANON - Oct. 26 - Hariri Forms Govt". APS Diplomat Recorder . Arab Press Service. 28 October 2000. Retrieved 24 January 2020– via The Free Library.
- ↑ Paraipan, Manuela (23 September 2007). "Interview with Ghazi Aridi, Lebanon's Minister of Information". World Security Network. Archived from the original on July 16, 2007. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ↑ "Profiles: Lebanon's new government". Lebanonwire . 12 July 2008. Archived from the original on 11 May 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
- ↑ "Minister of Information". Lebanese Ministry of Information. 28 December 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
- ↑ "Lebanese minister, two ex-ministers could face corruption trial". euronews.com. 12 September 2019.
- ↑ Naharnet Newsdesk (21 January 2020). "New Lebanese Government Formed after 3 Months of Political Vacuum". Naharnet . Retrieved 24 January 2020.
- ↑ "Lebanon's information minister quits to ease Saudi dispute". Reuters. 2021-12-03. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
- ↑ "Cabinet drops megacenters for May elections, appoints new information minister". L'Orient Today. 2022-03-10. Retrieved 2022-04-22.
