Lebanon has experienced warfare, economic hardship, and terrorism throughout its recent history. From the war that raged in the country from 1975 to 1990, when an estimated 120,000 people were killed, to foreign occupation, to instability, Lebanon has had a difficult history. Last week, on August 4th, an explosion devastated Beirut killing over one hundred people and injuring thousands. This incident shocked the nation amidst a horrible economic crisis and a tremendous lack of faith in the competence of the government. Doug Becker speaks with Bassel F. Salloukh and Hannes Baumann about the ongoing political and economic crisis in Lebanon.
Bassel F. Salloukh is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the Lebanese American University in Beirut. His current research looks at post-conflict power-sharing arrangements and he is the co-author of The Politics of Sectarianism in Postwar Lebanon.
Hannes Baumann is a Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Liverpool. He is an expert in Middle East political economy and is the author of Citizen Hariri: Lebanon’s Neo-Liberal Reconstruction.
Podcast:
This interview originally aired on the Scholars’ Circle. To access our archive of episodes and download this interview, click here.
For more of our audio and visual content, check out our YouTube channel, or head to the University of Auckland’s manuscripts and archives collection.
Disclaimer: The ideas expressed in this discussion reflect the views of the guests and not necessarily the views of The Big Q.
You might also like:
