On Friday, July 1, two men walked toward a microphone to speak as representatives of their respective political parties, but not in their official capacity as ministers. Following a closed-door meeting, they declared the end to a three-year feud. A bilateral deal had been reached concerning the nation’s potential hydrocarbon resources. Lebanon was set to finally close its first offshore oil and gas licensing round which is a decision cabinet was supposed to make. After reading a statement that any thinking person will tell you means absolutely nothing (unless it’s laced with coded language only true insiders can decipher), a reporter’s request for details was rebuffed with a promise that consultations with the prime minister would be held. With that, the two men left. A fait acompli, in local political parlance. In all fairness, it was probably a stunt and the deal looks dead (see cover story page 14), but
