Lebanon

When you think of Lebanon, a small country in the Middle East with deep historical roots and a complex modern identity. Also known as the Lebanon Republic, it’s a nation that’s shaped regional politics for decades, even when its own government struggles to function. Lebanon isn’t just about Beirut’s nightlife or the Cedars of Lebanon—it’s a country caught between internal collapse and external pressure. Its economy has been in freefall since 2019, with inflation hitting over 200%, the currency losing 90% of its value, and banks locking people out of their savings. Millions now live below the poverty line, and basic services like electricity and clean water are unreliable. This isn’t just a local problem—it affects global supply chains, refugee flows into Europe and Africa, and even how neighboring countries like Egypt and Jordan manage their own stability.

Lebanon’s political system is built on sectarian power-sharing, which sounds fair on paper but often leads to gridlock. When the government can’t form, ministries sit empty, and decisions stall. The 2020 Beirut port explosion wasn’t just a tragedy—it exposed how corruption and neglect turned a city into a war zone overnight. And while the world watched, Lebanon’s neighbors didn’t stand still. Syria’s civil war pushed over a million refugees into Lebanon, straining schools, hospitals, and housing. Meanwhile, Hezbollah, a powerful armed group with ties to Iran, holds real power in parts of the country, making any peace deal or reform harder to achieve. These aren’t abstract issues—they’re daily realities for families trying to feed their kids or pay for medicine.

What’s surprising is how Lebanon’s crisis echoes in places far from the Mediterranean. African nations watching Lebanon’s banking collapse are rethinking how they manage foreign currency reserves. Countries like Kenya and South Africa, dealing with their own debt and inflation, study Lebanon’s mistakes as warnings. Even in sports and culture, Lebanon’s absence from regional tournaments or its artists being silenced sends ripples across Arab media networks. The country’s story isn’t just about politics—it’s about what happens when institutions fail, when trust vanishes, and when people keep going anyway.

You’ll find posts here that connect Lebanon to global events: how its currency collapse affects African remittance flows, how refugee policies in Uganda mirror those shaped by Lebanon’s crisis, and how regional conflicts in the Middle East spill over into African security discussions. This isn’t a collection of headlines—it’s a map of how one small country’s pain shapes the world around it.