Reading Time: 4 minutes My father returned to Lebanon in 1994, 10 years after the civil war forcibly exiled him to France. He thought that his PhD from Sorbonne University, coupled with extensive academic publications, would be sufficient for him to find a decent teaching job at the Lebanese University (LU). He soon realized the error in his assumption…
Academia, the public, and policy-making in Lebanon
Reading Time: 3 minutes There has never been a better time to critically assess how and where we get our news and information than these times when social media has become the main source of news for many, and “fake news” not only informs policy-making, but has become a tool for some politicians. Healthy democracies require informed citizens capable…
LAU study a model for solving the problem of data scarcity
Reading Time: 3 minutes The impacts of universities on the surrounding environment go far beyond their gates. Their contribution to the local economy—understood as both direct and indirect effects on employment and overall economic development—is visible to the naked eye. Classic examples include Oxford, England, or Cambridge, Massachusetts, which are unthinkable without Oxford and Harvard universities. In Lebanon, the…
Private schools in Lebanon struggle to provide quality education at a reasonable cost
Reading Time: 8 minutes This year marked the 200th anniversary of the death of al-Muallem or the master Butrus al-Bustani, a writer and scholar, who founded one of the first schools in Lebanon, Al-Madrassa al-Wataniya (the national school) in 1880. The school was based on national principles and was open to all without discrimination—a change from the religiously run…
The Lebanese educational landscape
Reading Time: 9 minutes Despite large variances in concepts of what constitutes a good education and the curious inconsistency which individuals tend over time to exhibit on the matter, the value of education as a public good is constant throughout history and across societies as diverse as classical Greece, imperial China, and contemporary America. In our global era of…
Lebanon needs to build a railway network
Reading Time: 3 minutes The absence of public transport in Lebanon has a substantial economic impact on the country, with congestion clogging the country’s main transport arteries. Without a sustainable transport system in place, this will only get worse; the average delay per vehicle will nearly double and the average speed will be halved according to a 2015 working…
Smart mobility in Lebanon
Reading Time: 3 minutes The first digital revolution was centered around the movement of data and information in the virtual world; the next digital revolution may very well be around optimizing the movement of people and things in the real world. The concept of “smart mobility” is the intersection between the real and the virtual worlds, and this is…
The case for increased cycling in Lebanon
Reading Time: 5 minutes Worldwide, the bicycle is making a comeback as part of the future of sustainable cities. Here in Beirut, despite appearances, there is the potential to foster a bike-friendly city. Beirut’s small size, compact urban form, organic and narrow street structure, and the inter-connectivity of neighborhoods make it an ideal city to cycle in. Even the…
Lost in Trainslation
Reading Time: 3 minutes Kan ya ma kan (once upon a time), Lebanon had a well-developed railway network established by the different foreign authorities that governed the country before its independence. The first major rail line was developed during the Ottoman period in 1895 and ran from Beirut to Damascus. It was constructed by the French upon a concession…
MEA focused on local Lebanese market
Reading Time: 11 minutes Middle East Airlines (MEA) is one of Lebanon’s indisputable assets in the wide realm of mobility. The flag carrier throughout its 74-year history has reflected the varied economic fortunes, ambitions, and realities of Lebanon. To inquire about MEA’s positioning and strategic outlook today, Executive interviewed Walid Abillama, the airline’s head of commercial strategies and alliances.…