Lebanon

Policy Analysis on Lebanon

Don’t Look Down: The Struggle Over Lebanon’s Airspace

To avoid past mistakes and counter the most potent threat on its borders, Israel requires an accurate intelligence picture in Lebanon, but Iran and Hezbollah risk destabilizing the situation by chipping away at the IDF’s air superiority.

Jul 7, 2022

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Assaf Orion

Iran's Arabic media sites and personalities in Arab countries

Maps & Graphics

In-Depth Reports

The Revolution Will Be Televised in Arabic:

Iran's Media Infrastructure Abroad

An umbrella entity, the Islamic Radio and Television Union, encompasses more than two hundred media groups stretching from Oman to East Africa.

Jun 30, 2022

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Hamdi Malik

Brief Analysis

How to Avoid Another Lost Year for UNIFIL

At this point, even if the “interim” force was somehow able and willing to implement its mandate in southern Lebanon, it might not be enough to prevent war—but Washington should still press for whatever reforms it can.

Jun 21, 2022

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David Schenker
Assaf Orion

Brief Analysis

Israel’s Karish Offshore Gas Field: Facts and Figures

The country and its energy partners have found a more efficient way to exploit smaller offshore reserves, though Western officials should temper any expectations that such developments will help ease the global energy crisis.

Jun 14, 2022

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Simon Henderson

Brief Analysis

Lebanon’s (Verbal) Threat Against Israeli Gas Exploration

Production from Israel’s Karish offshore natural gas field is scheduled to start later this year.

Jun 6, 2022

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Simon Henderson

Palestians on a Mediterranean beach in Gaza

Articles & Testimony

Shifting East Mediterranean Tides: From Conflict to Club Med?

Although the worst-case scenarios of just a few years ago are in abeyance, the best-case ones of transformative cooperation are also still out of reach.

May 2022

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David Pollock

Video

Brief Analysis

Hezbollah-Shia Dynamics and Lebanon's Election: Challenges, Opportunities, and Policy Implications

On the eve of the election, two Lebanese experts joined a former U.S. official to discuss the prospects for widening the cracks in Hezbollah’s core Shia constituency.

May 18, 2022

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Hanin Ghaddar
Bashshar Haydar
David Schenker

A Lebanese protester holds a sign denouncing Iranian influence

Brief Analysis

What Hezbollah’s Parliamentary Loss Means for Lebanon

The voting results provide even more hope for change than meets the eye, though the winners will need international help to prevent Hezbollah from obstructing the next steps.

May 16, 2022

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Hanin Ghaddar

Brief Analysis

Dethroning Lebanon’s “King of Captagon”

A major international drug smuggler with close ties to Hezbollah has continued threatening Lebanese residents and helping the Assad regime next door, giving Washington ample cause to intervene.

May 9, 2022

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Lauren Fredericks

Arab Approval of UAE, Bahrain Peace with Israel

Video

Brief Analysis

New Arab Polls on Ukraine, Iran, Israel, and China: Analysis and Implications

Three public opinion experts discuss what March and April surveys in key states reveal about local attitudes toward U.S. policy.

May 3, 2022

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David Pollock
Catherine Cleveland
Munqith Dagher

Maps & Graphics

In-Depth Reports

Hezbollah in Colombia

Past and Present Modus Operandi and the Need for Greater Scrutiny

A probe of the group’s commercial activities can yield insights on its Latin American operations, which in recent years have touched not only Colombia but also Peru, Chile, and Bolivia.

Mar 28, 2022

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Aurora Ortega

Brief Analysis

Between Maritime Law and Politics in the East Mediterranean

Given the region’s fraught history and piecemeal legal frameworks, the parties and their allies should focus more on the political, economic, and security concerns underlying their legal disputes.

Mar 24, 2022

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Alexander Loengarov

Hezbollahland book cover, Dahiya map, Hassan Nasrallah, fighters

Maps & Graphics

In-Depth Reports

Hezbollahland

Mapping Dahiya and Lebanon's Shia Community

The southern Beirut suburb encompasses multiple layers of clashing and besieged identities that pose major internal challenges to Hezbollah’s hold over Lebanon.

Mar 14, 2022

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Hanin Ghaddar

Tunisian citizens who fled the Russian invasion of Ukraine arrive in Tunis - Source: Reuters

Brief Analysis

Middle East Students Stranded in Ukraine

Regional governments are scrambling to repatriate thousands of their trapped citizens, and the United States could play a key role in facilitating their safe return.

Mar 9, 2022

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Carol Silber
Calvin Wilder

A Ukrainian flag flies at a naval base in Crimea in 2014 - source: Reuters

Brief Analysis

Middle East Responses to the Ukraine Crisis

So far, official statements from the region have ranged from rejecting Russia’s moves to treating them as a natural extension of existing policy.

Updated Mar 4, 2022

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Margaret Dene
Hannah Labow
Carol Silber

United Nations headquarters building in New York - source: Reuters

Brief Analysis

The UN Resolution on Ukraine: How Did the Middle East Vote?

A comprehensive record of what regional officials said—or didn’t say—about the emergency wartime vote in the General Assembly.

Mar 2, 2022

Breaking Hezbollah's Golden Rule Podcast cover image - source: TWI

Audio

Articles & Testimony

Podcast: Breaking Hezbollah's Golden Rule

Listen to a podcast series shining a bright light on the global terrorist and criminal activities that Lebanese Hezbollah would rather keep hidden from view.

February-March 2022

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Matthew Levitt

Brief Analysis

Hezbollah Leaders Are Dreading the Election—But They Have a Plan

Opposition parties may win enough votes to strip Hezbollah’s parliamentary majority, but the group is already preparing to employ its usual tactics of postponement, paralysis, and street violence if necessary.

Feb 1, 2022

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Hanin Ghaddar

Brief Analysis

Saad’s Sad Goodbye: Hariri Leaves Lebanese Politics

Despite seeming more well-intentioned than most of his colleagues in Beirut’s political elite, Hariri ultimately became part of the coterie that has pushed Lebanon to the brink of state failure.

Jan 25, 2022

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David Schenker

Articles & Testimony

Solving Syria’s Crisis Starts with Sanctioning Iranian Oil

Instead of quietly greenlighting the Assad regime’s diplomatic rehabilitation, U.S. officials should escalate economic pressure on its Iranian enablers to regain leverage at the negotiating table.

Jan 3, 2022

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Andrew J. Tabler
Matthew Zweig

Supported by the

Program on Arab Politics

The Washington Institute's Program on Arab Politics focuses on social, political, and economic developments in the Arab world, with an emphasis on the Arab countries of the Levant.

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Featured experts

Matthew Levitt

Matthew Levitt is the Fromer-Wexler Fellow and director of the Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at The Washington Institute.

Hanin Ghaddar

Hanin Ghaddar is the Friedmann Fellow at The Washington Institute's Geduld Program on Arab Politics, where she focuses on Shia politics throughout the Levant.

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Lebanon

Policy Analysis on Lebanon

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Policy Analysis on Lebanon

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