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CIAO DATE: 5/5/2007
Is Lebanon Headed toward Another Civil War?
David Schenker, Andrew Exum
January 2007
Abstract
Violent clashes in Beirut on January 25 between students of rival political parties have overshadowed the promising news that Lebanon received pledges of $7.6 billion at the Paris III donor conference on Lebanons economy. The violence, which was largely along sectarian lines, was the latest in a series of escalating political/religious confrontations. This troubling trend raises the specter that Lebanon may once again be sliding toward civil war.
Political paralysis has gripped Lebanon since last November, when the oppositionled by Hizballah and its Christian alliesleft the government and launched massive protests against prime minister Fouad Sinioras March 14 coalition demanding more political clout. It had been hoped that Arab mediation would provide an exit to the crisis, but events on the ground in Lebanon appear to be outpacing diplomatic efforts. Meanwhile, rising sectarian tensions and clashes, both between Sunni and Shiite groups and among the divided Christian community, have endangered Lebanons fragile intercommunal relations.