Political narratives in the Middle East and North Africa. Conceptions of order and perceptions of instability

Abstract

emphasizing the class dimension – two strands that have rarely been connected in the analysis of Lebanon. The volume also has the merit of providing a detailed and timely analysis of the main alliances between Lebanon’s political parties and how they have been re-arranged especially in some important debates that have informed political life – most importantly, regarding elections and election law. But not only that: The volume offers insight into the political forces in the field and the intraand inter-sectarian conflicts by connecting them with the external alliances that have forged and influenced them. This analysis explains some apparent ‘oddities’ of Lebanese political life, of which the alliance between the Shiite Hizballah and the Christian Free Patriotic Movement is the most evident. Between the lines, however, the analysis also explains the Lebanese political elites’ ability to increase the pressure almost to breaking point. Through a skilful and wise use of sectarian language to mobilize and demobilize their sectarian members, Lebanese politicians have created a short circuit that continues to hold Lebanese democracy hostage to this day. Although the most recent events (the protests of October 2019, the Eurobond default of March 2020 and the explosion at the port of Beirut on 4 August 2020) seem to have restarted some processes that had been silenced or dormant in previous years, the difficulties of the political parties to converge on a new government suggests that Assi’s argument is, sadly still valid.