Don’t simply blame ’corruption’ for the Beirut blast
▻https://english.alaraby.co.uk/opinion/dont-simply-blame-corruption-beirut-blast
If anything, Lebanon is more of an unsettled conflict, an uneasy truce between long-warring factions, an accident waiting to happen.
And make no mistake, Lebanon is still at war, both with its neighbours and itself. To the south, there is an open flashpoint with Israel, which has bombed or invaded the country nearly every decade of the last half-century. To the east, Syria, which has also long occupied the country, is a cauldron of violence that has drawn Lebanese fighters, as well as driving over a million refugees over the borders.
Conflicting views over these multiple border conflicts have only added fuel to internal political divisions, especially as major world powers pour money and arms to the opposing sides. While Iran and Syria invest billions in Hezbollah, the US and its allies pour billions into the Lebanese army and security services.
It is this deliberate feeding of Lebanon’s deep internal divisions that keeps it mired in perpetual paralysis. Every decision, every project to help repair the country’s ailing infrastructure is treated as a renegotiation of the civil war and a redivision of its spoils. Councils or institutions needed to plan economic recovery strategies, develop competitive industries, act as a regulator to ensure fair competition are stymied by this tug of war: who will be appointed to their boards and who will do the appointing? Any negotiation must be approved by the patron powers that sustain and arm their positions.