ABSTRACT
Throughout many centuries of Middle Eastern history, the inclusion of Lebanon within the borders of Syria was standard political discourse and policy. The post–World War one political arrangements partitioned Greater Syria into four separate territorial units: Syria proper, Lebanon, Palestine, and Transjordan. The Syrian Army's deployment spread across Lebanon, demonstrating that its ostensible interconfessional/militia policing policy was assuming the form of a comprehensive military domination. From mediator in the 1975–76 war to political broker of intercommunal conflict, Syria came to dominate the Lebanese political arena and shaped its evolving power arrangements as the reality of occupation took form. Lebanon's historic tradition of political liberty had nurtured an environment of freedom of speech, cultural richness, and media diversity, in the public space at the heart of its national experience. The liberal and vibrant Lebanese economy was hijacked by the statist economic intervention of the Syrian regime.
