Lebanon
At a glance
In order to strengthen religious and ethnic coexistence and pluralism in Lebanon, BPS supports the creation of an environment that is conducive for effective, sustainable and successful negotiations in Lebanese political society. For this purpose, we collaborate with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Lebanon. BPS provides process-related advice, technical assistance and information as well as resources and expertise.
Conflict setting
Lebanon is a small country in the highly violent and volatile Middle East. Although associated with a specific type of ethnopolitical conflict and militia warfare – giving rise to the term the ‘Lebanonization’ of conflict – it is also a role model for religious and ethnic coexistence and pluralism in the region.
Today, Lebanon is confronted with two distinct and mutually interrelated (and reinforcing) challenges: structural weaknesses of the political system and a high level of interference by external actors. The Ta’if Agreement of 1989, which had helped to end the Lebanese civil war (that started in 1975), was only partially implemented. Moreover, the ground rules of the political system were very much regulated by Syria, which controlled Lebanon until it had to withdrew its troops under Lebanese and international pressure in 2005. The internal crisis between 2006 and 2008, which culminated in the short military takeover of parts of Beirut by opposition forces allied with Hezbollah in May 2008, was a result of three factors. These were the internal contradictions of the Lebanese consensus-based political systems, the political and military repercussions of the war with Israel in the summer 2006 and the interference of external forces.
The Doha Agreement of May 2008 included consensus on the presidential candidate, election regulations and the establishment of the National Dialogue as a means to strengthen the Lebanese state and to define (and agree on) the relationship between the resistance forces and the regular Lebanese army. These steps were crucial to ease political tensions and to normalize inter-Lebanese relationships. The elections of June 2009 and the successive formation of a government of national unity in November 2009 were further positive steps to improve relations.
However, despite the positive steps towards inter-Lebanese reconciliation, the overall situation remains fragile and needs further stabilization. It is characterized by:
- deep cleavages and mistrust between the different communities,
- varied perceptions of what constitutes vital security threats to Lebanon and strategies to deal with them,
- unaddressed legacies of the civil war and related war crimes and
- vulnerability due to external developments concerning the immediate future of Lebanon .
Activities
Since 2008, we are collaborating with UNDP Lebanon. In order to support dialogue and reconciliation, we provide to Lebanese actors process-related advice, technical assistance and information as well as resources and expertise. These services have been requested and used by political parties, elected constitutional bodies, academic institutions and civil society.
Since 2010, we are supporting the Common Space Initiative for Shared Knowledge and Consensus Building that aims to provide technical and process-related assistance to parties and stakeholders responsible for political reform in Lebanon.
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Top