The dispatch from the general assembly of the United Nations (UN) was official. The officially hyphenated Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met with Mohammad Najib Azmi Mikati, President of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Lebanon: “They discussed the situation in Lebanon, with the Secretary-General emphasizing the continued commitment of the United Nations to support the Lebanese people.” Why would it matter if the top representative of the world’s top transnational body talks about the problems of a failed state with the nominal caretaker head of that state’s cabinet? Why would the people of Lebanon care if the UN praise the Lebanese people for their outstanding generosity in welcoming refugees ten years ago? Why would it help that the UNIFIL mandate is still around at a time when order and security disintegrate alongside the destruction of the economic and social fabric? Some, usually from the safety of academic research labs
