Sectarianism in Lebanon

This week on a special edition of Babel, Will Todman speaks with Jon Alterman, the creator of Babel and the show’s host since it began in 2019. They discuss Jon’s reflections on 22 years directing the CSIS Middle East Program, his analysis of how the Middle East policy ecosystem ...  Show more

This week on Babel, Jon Alterman speaks with Dr. Mohanad Hage Ali, deputy director for research at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. Mohanad's latest paper for Carnegie investigates the rise of a new form of drug smuggling in Lebanon. Together, they discuss Hezbollah’s i ...  Show more

In this episode, we turn our focus to the Middle East, specifically Lebanon, a country currently at the epicentre of political and economic turmoil. Joined by Lebanese economist Carole Nakhle, we dive into the complexities of Lebanese society, a nation shaped by hyperinflation, w ...  Show more

Gideon Rachman talks to Chloe Cornish, the FT’s Middle East correspondent, on how decades of misgovernance have led to Lebanon’s current political, economic and social crisis. Chloe recounts how the year since the explosion in Beirut, the country’s capital city, has been ...

Why is Lebanon dogged by chaos? HARDtalk's Stephen Sackur speaks to the country’s Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil. Lebanese politics is a world of complex alliances, delicate inter-communal arrangements, and almost permanent instability. Lebanon currently has a functioning governm ...  Show more

MEI Senior Fellow Paul Salem joins the program to assess Lebanon's rapidly shifting political landscape. With a new president and government promising to enact reforms and reassert sovereignty, Lebanon faces a daunting agenda: disarming Hizballah, rebuilding institu ...