The tragedy of Lebanon — a theatre of other people’s wars for 50 years |
Certain countries, because of their geography, ethnic composition, or strategic resources, are doomed to become arenas for geopolitical rivalries and proxy wars. They are characterised by a weak state, powerful militias that function as a state-within-a-state, often funded and sustained by foreign powers, and frequent external military intervention.
Afghanistan is a classic case study, from the Great Game, the Cold War, and post-9/11 interventions. The Second Congo War came to be known as Africa’s World War. The Syrian Civil War involved multiple proxies: The US, Russia, Iran and Turkey. The regions may differ, but the pattern is the same: Local conflicts are fostered, exploited, and prolonged to serve great-power competition.
A permanent place on this list of countries belongs to Lebanon, which at the time of writing is under sustained military assault. This is the seventh time it has been invaded by Israel in the last 50 years. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has pressed ahead with operations despite a US-Iran ceasefire, with the stated aim of eliminating the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. More than 2,000 Lebanese people are dead already, and over a million are displaced.
The tragedy of Lebanon is that, despite being one of the few democracies in West Asia, it has repeatedly been a site of other countries’ wars. This is compounded by the fact that these conflicts rarely reach decisive conclusions, allowing militias to remain armed and the state........