Thomas Schellen

For all the good that numbers can do for explaining economic and social trajectories, statistics provide limited utility. This is exacerbated into rapidly decreasing utility when social and economic issues …

At any meeting these days, from academic circles to business and banking conferences, one is likely to hear more than one allusion to Lebanon’s reform challenges. Much more. Whether it …

When it comes to predictions for this year, there are some prophecies that are practically risk-free, even outside the notion that the biggest risks of 2019 are not related to …

Political class is not always a flattering term. Actually, undercurrents of personal animosity and/or political criticism are endemic when discussions turn to the political class—in any country. In Lebanon, the …

Lebanon is well-acquainted with the true diaspora returnee: the individual born in Lebanon who departed at some point in the 20th century, who has one or multiple tertiary education degrees—often …

When four officers of two highly respected Lebanese military institutions—the Lebanese Army and the Internal Security Forces—in mid-January took their chairs on a panel at the American University of Beirut …

In Executive’s view of things that happened locally in January 2019, three incidents testified to the presence—and the perils of—irrational expectations. Such expectations actually work in two directions, with different …

Executive met with then-caretaker Minister of Economy Raed Khoury to discuss McKinsey & Company’s economic vision (commissioned by the government in late 2017 and published in early January), the ministry’s …

Lebanon has no difficulty evoking the idea of a circus, or, as we said in the previous issue of this magazine, a political carnival. Our absurdist theater troupe had seemingly …

“…it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or …