Lebanon is in crisis mode, again, and as usual it is not only a Lebanese concern. Crisis and foreign intervention go hand in hand in this small, fought-over state. This time around, it is Syria and Saudi Arabia who have added their names to the long list of failed intermediaries. Their foreign interventions, as well as those of Israel, France, the United States and Iran, have regularly ranged from ineffective to catastrophic. The diplomatic excesses and Machiavellian schemes of foreign states in Lebanon have left a depressing legacy in the country that has been deftly examined by veteran British journalist David Hirst in his latest book ‘Beware of Small States: Lebanon, battleground of the Middle East.’ The book takes its title from Russian anarchist Mikhail Bakunin, who warned that while smaller states are often the victims of larger ones, they are also a source of danger for regional powers —
Deen is a Fellow in Human Geography at the Department of Geography and Environment at LSE. His research focuses on the political economy of urbanisation in the 'Middle East
