Last week’s emphatic takeover of West Beirut by Hizbullah and its junior Shi’a ally Amal was a classic example of how the Lebanese Shi’a are effectively Lebanon’s new powerbrokers. Having been pressured by the government, it responded by destroying its Sunni competitors while leaving Christian East Beirut untouched, effectively vetoing government actions through force of arms at the same time as trying to minimize the risk of civil war. Read more »
Guest blogger: Melissa George, an intern with the Lowy Institute's West Asia Program, worked for the Palestinian Central Elections Commission (CEC), the UN Development Program and the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces. Read more »
Following up the post from last Thurday previewing the release of a video apparently showing construction of a North Korean-designed reactor in Syria, here's some interesting reading. Read more »
With parliament not having met in over a year, government business paralysed since the withdrawal of Shi’a members of cabinet in November 2006 and with 17 unsuccessful attempts to elect a president since Emile Lahoud stepped down in November last year, one could be forgiven for thinking the soap opera that is Lebanese politics could not get any more farcical. Read more »
We’ll know later today whether Hillary Clinton has done well enough in the Pennsylvania primary to stay in the Democratic presidential nomination contest with Barack Obama. I wonder if voters will punish her for comments like this?: Read more »
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