Chronicling conflict: An unnecessary war begs essential change

Click here to view the timeline The writing of our forthcoming issue, which began during the second phase of this timeline and ended during the fourth phase, has been chronicling the experiences of the real estate sector, the hospitality sector, industry leaders, humanitarian responders, agro-food entrepreneurs and representatives from the agricultural sector, the transport sector, and leaders in the private sector at large. Over a year of war—including nine months of intensifying, mostly cross-border exchanges that led to an Israeli escalation into open war lasting nearly three months—has wreaked havoc on Lebanon and its economy. There is a tendency to compare the 33-day July war of 2006 to this latest conflict, but the context and scope of these two wars are vastly different. The July war of 2006 began after the kidnapping of five Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah, an alleged attempt to secure a prisoner exchange. The very next day,