No one knows how politics manipulates fear more than the Lebanese. Yet at the same time, the small Levantine country, which has witnessed so much tragedy in the past four decades, has been able to put conflict behind it again and unite to create one of the most energetic — even if it is at times erratic — private sectors in the region. This ability to bury the past and move on was demonstrated at the Taef peace talks, held in Saudi Arabia in 1989 to end 15 years of brutal civil conflict, and in Doha in 2008 after Lebanon came perilously close to plunging itself once again into the abyss. The Lebanese may at times be powerless to the political maneuverings of bigger nations, but they have witnessed first hand how regional tremors can derail prosperity and they know how to be pragmatic, even when pragmatism comes at a
