More than a year after a fragile ceasefire halted large-scale hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, Lebanon finds itself in an unfamiliar position: cautiously moving forward while still standing on unstable ground. The war has not formally ended, Israeli violations persist, and Hezbollah has not disarmed. Yet, despite these unresolved dangers, Lebanon is taking hesitant but meaningful steps toward restoring a semblance of normal statehood. In a country long defined by paralysis, even incremental progress represents a notable shift.

At the center of this tentative transition stands President Joseph Aoun, whose first year in office has been marked less by dramatic breakthroughs than by measured restraint. Together with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s government, Aoun has attempted to reassert the authority of the Lebanese state after decades in which decision-making power was effectively shared-or subordinated-to a parallel military and political structure dominated by Hezbollah. For more than thirty years, Lebanon functioned as a state within a state, where national policy was shaped by the interests of an armed militia backed by Syria and Iran, often at the expense of sovereignty, stability, and economic viability.

The concept of “slowly” is perhaps the most accurate descriptor of Lebanon’s current trajectory. Progress has been incremental, cautious, and frequently contested. Yet in a political environment historically prone to sudden collapse, this slow pace may be a virtue rather than a failing. The Lebanese people, battered by war, economic collapse, and institutional decay, are beginning-carefully-to permit themselves a measure of hope. That optimism is fragile, but it is reflected in a growing belief that the country might once again reclaim basic services, economic predictability, and a functioning state apparatus.

President Aoun assumed office on Jan. 9, 2025, at a moment of acute danger. Israeli drones and fighter jets were still concluding a two-month campaign targeting Hezbollah positions across Lebanon. His early tenure was therefore shaped not by reform agendas but by crisis management. Preventing........

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