Crossing the rubicon

With Lebanon having crossed the Rubicon of the Mehlis report, it must now prepare for the storm that will follow. In many respects, the country will have to use the upcoming months to define, or redefine, what kind of society it expects to be – whether one imbued with a capitalist culture of openness and free markets, or one racked by fear and diffidence. The answer is not an easy one, as the Lebanese will have contradictory answers to the three major challenges they can be expected to face: addressing the implications of what the United Nations investigator Detlev Mehlis revealed, and the legal consequences of this; the breadth of economic reform, and the limits of the society’s openness. In his report, Mehlis found compelling evidence to hold Syrian and Lebanese security officials and politicians responsible for former premier Rafik Hariri’s assassination, and described a widespread conspiracy that appeared to