Fix Lebanon, or rethink it

If Israel is allowed to defeat Hezbollah soundly, there may be new life for the dangerously failed state of Lebanon

Oct 13, 2024

∙ Paid

A colorful cartoon-style illustration of two different 19th-century cartographers poring over large maps of the Ottoman Empire. One has a furrowed brow, and both are concentrating intensely, using fountain pens to mark the map. They are dressed distinctly, with one in a formal suit and the other in a more casual vest and shirt. Whiskey glasses sit on the table. In the background, London landmarks like Big Ben and Tower Bridge can be seen. The scene is set in a room with wooden tables, an old-fashioned globe, and an imperial atmosphere.

Imagine two diplomats in smoke-filled rooms in wartime London and Paris, poring over maps of the Ottoman Empire. Mark Sykes, representing Britain, and François Georges-Picot, were not renowned cartographers nor great experts on the Middle East. But the clandestine map they signed in 1916, together with some agreements in the years that followed, created the unhelpful map of the Middle East today.

It essentially divided up the region into British and French protectorates (Russia, the other element in the Great War’s “Triple Entente,” imploded in civil war and lost its chance to control Istanbul). There was little concern for the realities on the ground—the tribes, religious communities, and ethnic groups that had been lorded over by the Ottomans.

The lines they sketched lumped diverse populations into hastily imagined nations. This is how we ended up with Iraq, a melding of Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds who hate each other. That is why we have Syria, similarly a fake country which blew up in a ruinous civil war. Imperial machinations are why Jordan even exists – that had to do with offering compensation to a tribe that did not get handed Saudi Arabia.

UPGRADE TO PAID SUBSCRIPTION

1916 map delineates the current (and rather random) lines between Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Jordan

There are some countries in the region that have a viable case and robust history. Egypt is one – a major civilization that always flourished in the Nile Delta. Iran is another – Persia is as old as the Bible. Israel, despite the complications of the Jews’ exile and controversial return, is a real thing – and Christian Lebanon could have been the same.

The Maronites, an ancient Christian ethno-religious group with roots in the Phoenician and Hellenized communities of the Levant, ended up on the French side of the Sykes-Picot line, they were offered a chance to set the foundation for a small, manageable state in the Mount Lebanon region.

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Ask Questions Later to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.