ABSTRACT
Although a great deal of literature has been produced on Lebanon in the last two
decades, the vast majority of it has focused almost exclusively on various
aspects of the protracted and disastrous Lebanese ‘civil war’ (1975-90). Very
little has been written on post-war Lebanese affairs, and almost nothing has been
written on Lebanon’s foreign policy.1 In fact, even if one looks at studies which
examined Lebanese society prior to the civil war, one would be hard pressed to
find a good account of the forces that have historically shaped the country’s
foreign policy. With respect to the contemporary situation, a crucial problem is
that many scholars and policy makers look at the dominant role which the
Syrians now play in Lebanese politics and tend to assume that Lebanon really
has no authentic foreign policy of its own. In short, it is assumed that, if one
wishes to understand the reasoning and processes which underlie Lebanon’s
actions on the regional and international stages, one simply needs to understand
Syria’s national interests.
