VIDEO EXCLUSIVE

While the world is fixated on the civil war destroying Syria, there is a sense of carelessness and complacency over the fate of Lebanon. In part, this is because the country has survived multiple crises in the past, and is presumably able to survive yet another one. There is also a tendency to see negative developments in Lebanon as spillover effects from Syria, implying that its problem are rooted in and will be solved with Syria’s.

Click ‘playlist’ below to view all six videos:

Two upcoming Issue Briefs by the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East will show that the reality is more complicated and less reassuring. Lebanon’s troubles begin at home and are more serious and worrying than the intermittent wars and unrest to which observers of the country have grown accustomed.

We interviewed Issue Brief authors Faysal Itani and Sarah Grebowski for their views on the importance of Lebanon and the nature of the threats it faces. Six short clips in the player cover these important questions: Is Lebanon experiencing spillover effects from Syria’s conflict? What effect is Syria’s conflict having on Lebanon’s inter-sectarian relations? Is sectarianism on the rise in Lebanon? Why does a failed state in Lebanon matter? Can Lebanon survive the Syrian conflict? What does the Syria conflict mean for Hezbollah?