What is Erdogan’s End Game in Lebanon?
The last year has seen a significant uptick in the Erdogan’s playmaking in the Mediterranean. From west to east, through hard and soft...
What’s the difference between a failed and a fragile/weak state?
Years ago when I worked for another Arab country, and critical observations were made about how the country was governed, its human...
Continued Disagreements on Reforms of Banking and Financial Sectors Threaten New Government Mandate
It’s been clear for months that a key issue blocking negotiations with the IMF is the reluctance of the Central Bank of Lebanon (BdL) to...
Mamas – Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Bankers in Lebanon
In the complicated and arcane world of Lebanese finance, the banking sector has always been held in high esteem and regarded as one of...
Do the US and France See Eye to Eye on Lebanon?
It is instructive to review the French draft Plan presented by President Macron to the oligarchy during his September 1 visit in light of...
Rescuing Pets in the Aftermath of the Beirut Blasts
I have friends who are rather generous in their posting of beasts of all sizes on Facebook, both entertaining and really cute, but I try...
Living through Letters – the Last Days of Bim Nakely
I don’t have much time for casual reading. Keeping up with US foreign and domestic policy issues that affect my work takes hours every...
Any real hope of one-two reality punches from France and the US?
President Macron of France is due in Lebanon September 1 to insist on political and economic reforms required to free up international...
What is/are the Truth/s Behind the Beirut Explosions?
I prefer not to think in terms of conspiracies, even when they feed my perceptions of certain events. Certainly, the US political...
Okay Lebanon, What’s Next?
Watching the many webinars on the crisis in Lebanon has been enlightening but sobering. While analysts often refer by way of...
Priorities and Possibilities - A Future to Rebuild Together
In October of 2019 a “revolt” was launched that started as a wave of popular rejection directed at the extreme levels of corruption that...
Chinese Pearls Circling Lebanon – Will the Government Answer the Siren Song?
Much has been made of Hezbollah’s call to look east to China rather than deal with the IMF and the West which they believe pose an...
Looking to the Past for a New Formula for Coexistence
As a broad array of analysts bemoan the current situation in Lebanon, a moral authority raised his voice to plead for the country’s...
