Dreaming in St. Michaels

ST MICHAELS, Maryland, USA: Lebanon’s woes over the past twoyears have been keeping the Washington-based think-tankindustry busy as the country finds itself in the unenviableposition of being a point of convergence for most of thepressing quandaries besetting the Middle East — theArab-Israeli conflict, Iraq, Iran, terrorism, al-Qaeda andfundamentally the axis of resistance versus Pax Americana.Being a locus of multiple crises is bad for Lebanon butoffers plenty of food for thought for the many think tanksthat cram K, L, and M streets in the US capital. Earlier in June, I was invited by a leading think tank toparticipate in a round table forum in which some 15 expertswere asked to brainstorm an ideal vision of Lebanon 10 yearsdown the road, identify the obstacles preventing that visionfrom being realized and offering suggestions to overcomethem. The future aspiration for Lebanon derived by theparticipants was of a stable, prosperous, liberal democracywith a freewheeling economy