A man smokes a hookah as he watches Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah speak on television inside a coffee shop in the port city of Sidon, Lebanon. Reuters
A man smokes a hookah as he watches Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah speak on television inside a coffee shop in the port city of Sidon, Lebanon. Reuters
A man smokes a hookah as he watches Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah speak on television inside a coffee shop in the port city of Sidon, Lebanon. Reuters
Michael Young is a Lebanon affairs columnist for The National
September 29, 2021
Throughout the Middle East, armed groups or militias have come to play leading roles in states. In Yemen, the Houthis took over the capital Sanaa and now control large swathes of the country. In Iraq, the Popular Mobilisation Forces, like Moqtada Al Sadr’s Mahdi Army before them, are a major actor in Iraq’s political process and have significant influence over major government decisions.
Yet one country, Lebanon, stands out as a model of how former militia leaders have taken over the state. A majority of sectarian military leaders became pillars of the post-war order at the end of the country’s civil war in 1990. This happened at a time when centralised states were still the norm in the region. But that is no longer true, as countries throughout the Arab world have been shattered by conflict.
Under regular conditions, there is a tendency to see a sharp dichotomy between militia commanders who rule during wartime and civilian leaders who return to power once the fighting ends. However, that’s not what we are witnessing in a number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa today, where non-state actors such as militias have gained the upper hand on state institutions, even taking them over.
Lebanon institutionalised the authority of former militia leaders by wrapping the state around their interests
Why should Lebanon matter? Precisely because it was the first country to show that militia leaders could be recycled after a war into legitimate national figures, regardless of the crimes they committed during conflict. Leading a militia became a path to social promotion for many individuals previously on society’s periphery.
More importantly, Lebanon institutionalised the authority of former militia leaders by wrapping the state around their interests and turning the country into a host they could feed upon. Where militia leaders had profited from economic networks formed during the war, they now realised that it paid to embrace peace because their financial stakes would be guaranteed, even expanded, in the post-war order.
The way this was done was twofold. Former militia leaders became ministers, giving them access to the massive funds generated by public contracts for reconstruction. They also allied themselves with a class of businessmen and bankers, creating a nexus of power that continues to this day. Businessmen would fund electoral campaigns, in exchange for political backing or a parliamentary seat. Bankers built ties with sectarian leaders in order to protect their financial interests in government decisions.
A woman tosses rose petals to welcome tankers carrying Iranian fuel, upon their arrival from Syria in Baalbeck, in Lebanon's Bekaa valley, on September 16. AFP
Throughout the region, plenty of militia leaders can now aspire to pursuing a similar path. More significantly, if the gun can lead to wealth and advancement, this makes it much more probable that post-war periods in several Arab countries will not bring back normality at all. They will encourage efforts by wartime actors to hijack states and perpetuate their power and illicit activity in peaceful settings.
That is what makes the return of functional states so difficult throughout the region. Whether it is Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, or Libya, wartime actors have little incentive to restore the powers and institutions of the state. On the contrary, they thrive in environments in which states are weak and they can fill the vacuum.
The costs of such a situation are dramatic, however, and they are bound to get worse. Already, many states in the region are ill-equipped to transition to a post-oil era, in which rentier systems of government are unsustainable. Major challenges, such as climate change, have existential implications in parts of the region. Yet fragmented states will be wholly unable to address such issues.
If Lebanon was a vanguard in militia control over states, it has also proven to be a bellwether of the state collapse that derives from this. The wartime leaders and their business allies have sucked the state dry, so that it is barely able to import basic necessities. Yet the determination of the cartel in power to protect its interests has pushed its members to block all reform, indefinitely prolonging a crisis that should have taken much less time to resolve.
Moreover, militia rule in places such as Iraq and Syria is characterised by debilitating levels of violence to preserve the status quo. Because some of the armed groups are tied to powerful regional actors, governments in place cannot dislodge them. For example, protests in Iraq against Iran’s influence have been met with savage repression, while Syrian militias have maintained a vast ecosphere of exploitation.
In Lebanon, an additional irony is being played out. The post-war system may have been dominated by former militia leaders, but its principal protector today is another militia, Hezbollah, which was not initially part of the post-war carve-up. The former militiamen and businessmen have been reliant on Hezbollah to protect their system, but in the process they threaten to be marginalised.
In other words, systems of rule by former militiamen are inherently unstable because they are not adept at governing states and resolving problems. Hezbollah, which favours such incompetent orders for its own survivability, has come to the rescue of Lebanon’s post-war cartel, because if it were to fail, this would constrain the party’s own margin of manoeuvre.
As Arabs in these countries look at their future, what they see cannot reassure them. To be robbed in peacetime by the same people who persecuted them during wartime is the moral of their story, and their destiny. Until Arab populations push back against such realities, their world will remain a dark corner in the global picture.
Picture of Joumblatt and Hariri breaking bread sets Twitter alight
Mr Joumblatt’s pessimism regarding the Lebanese political situation didn’t stop him from enjoying a cheerful dinner on Tuesday with several politicians including Mr Hariri.
Caretaker Culture Minister Ghattas Khoury tweeted a picture of the group sitting around a table at a discrete fish restaurant in Beirut’s upscale Sodeco area.
Mr Joumblatt told The National that the fish served at Kelly’s Fish lounge had been very good.
“They really enjoyed their time”, remembers the restaurant owner. “Mr Hariri was taking selfies with everybody”.
Mr Hariri and Mr Joumblatt often have dinner together to discuss recent political developments.
Mr Joumblatt was a close ally of Mr Hariri’s assassinated father, former prime minister Rafik Hariri. The pair were leading figures in the political grouping against the 15-year Syrian occupation of Lebanon that ended after mass protests in 2005 in the wake of Rafik Hariri’s murder. After the younger Hariri took over his father’s mantle in 2004, the relationship with Mr Joumblatt endured.
However, the pair have not always been so close. In the run-up to the election last year, Messrs Hariri and Joumblatt went months without speaking over an argument regarding the new proportional electoral law to be used for the first time. Mr Joumblatt worried that a proportional system, which Mr Hariri backed, would see the influence of his small sect diminished.
With so much of Lebanese politics agreed in late-night meetings behind closed doors, the media and pundits put significant weight on how regularly, where and with who senior politicians meet.
In the picture, alongside Messrs Khoury and Hariri were Mr Joumbatt and his wife Nora, PSP politician Wael Abou Faour and Egyptian ambassador to Lebanon Nazih el Nagari.
The picture of the dinner led to a flurry of excitement on Twitter that it signified an imminent government formation. “God willing, white smoke will rise soon and Walid Beik [a nickname for Walid Joumblatt] will accept to give up the minister of industry”, one user replied to the tweet. “Blessings to you…We would like you to form a cabinet”, wrote another.
The next few days will be crucial in determining whether these wishes come true.
Explainer: Tanween Design Programme
Non-profit arts studio Tashkeel launched this annual initiative with the intention of supporting budding designers in the UAE. This year, three talents were chosen from hundreds of applicants to be a part of the sixth creative development programme. These are architect Abdulla Al Mulla, interior designer Lana El Samman and graphic designer Yara Habib.
The trio have been guided by experts from the industry over the course of nine months, as they developed their own products that merge their unique styles with traditional elements of Emirati design. This includes laboratory sessions, experimental and collaborative practice, investigation of new business models and evaluation.
It is led by British contemporary design project specialist Helen Voce and mentor Kevin Badni, and offers participants access to experts from across the world, including the likes of UK designer Gareth Neal and multidisciplinary designer and entrepreneur, Sheikh Salem Al Qassimi.
The final pieces are being revealed in a worldwide limited-edition release on the first day of Downtown Designs at Dubai Design Week 2019. Tashkeel will be at stand E31 at the exhibition.
Lisa Ball-Lechgar, deputy director of Tashkeel, said: “The diversity and calibre of the applicants this year … is reflective of the dynamic change that the UAE art and design industry is witnessing, with young creators resolute in making their bold design ideas a reality.”
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
Type 1 diabetes is a genetic and unavoidable condition, rather than the lifestyle-related type 2 diabetes.
It occurs mostly in people under 40 and a result of the pancreas failing to produce enough insulin to regulate blood sugars.
Too much or too little blood sugar can result in an attack where sufferers lose consciousness in serious cases.
Being overweight or obese increases the chances of developing the more common type 2 diabetes.
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), EsekaiaDranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), JaenBotes (Exiles), KristianStinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), EmosiVacanau (Harlequins), NikoVolavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), ThinusSteyn (Exiles)
