Stability and the Lebanese State in the 20th Century

"""How should we understand Lebanon? Now afflicted by widespread economic anomie and buffeted by the ambitions of competing regional powers, it is a country far removed from its once proud moniker as the 'Switzerland of the Middle East'. In this ambitious study, Dr Tarek Abou Jaoude explores how the building of state-legitimacy was always a compromised project, its ambition never able to satiate competing sectorial interests and sectarian demands. This mirror on the past, will be an indispensable guide to those who wish for Lebanon a better future."" --Clive Jones, University of Durham, UK ""Stability and the Lebanese State in the 20th Century offers a unique analysis of the various state-building projects that co-existed over time in the country, contributing to the (il)legitimacy and political (in)stability of Lebanon. This book powerfully underlines the failing of the narrow institutionalist approach to legitimacy and state-building in understanding Lebanon (and beyond). Hence, legitimacy needs to exist both on the institutional and societal level, in the absence of which no successful state-building project can emerge."" --Nicolas Lemay-Hébert, Associate Professor, Australian National University, Australia ""An essential and perceptive contribution to the contemporary history of Lebanon. Packed with new insights and valuable analysis, it will be of importance to those concerned with how and why this deeply divided society collapsed into civil war."" --Professor Michael Kerr, Department of War Studies, King's College London, UK"