The Switzerland of the Middle East?

Lebanon has often been referred to as the “Switzerland of the Middle East,” a line once taken seriously until the 1975-1990 war brought on howls of laughter whenever that cliché was uttered. Fair enough. Lebanon is no Switzerland, and even its snow-capped mountains look different. Instead of pastoral tales of “Heidi”, the country can tell you stories of Shaker al-Abssi and car bombings. Yet there is an essential similarity between the two countries: the fact that for a considerable amount of time they have had to manage the very different interests of a diverse, often conflict-ridden, population. What became Switzerland, in 1848, was for a long time torn apart by rivalries between Catholic and Protestant French-speaking, German-speaking, Italian-speaking, and Romansh-speaking populations, all manipulated by surrounding European powers. Lebanon, though all its citizens speak the same language, has nevertheless, similarly, been a society replete with divisions that its neighbors have played