ABSTRACT
In Lebanon political parties tend to be, de facto, organizations representing confessional groupings whatever the ideology might be, this was true of Joumblatt's Progressive Socialist Party whose members were mainly Druze, of the PPS whose members are mainly Greek Orthodox, and of the Kata'ib whose members are mainly Maronite. By the term Lebanese Nationalists is meant those who believe that Lebanon should remain independent indefinitely, that she has a unique personality and a special mission as a window on the West, an educational transmission belt to the East. The Lebanese idea, the notion that Lebanon has a special destiny, almost a providential assignment, to represent both West and East to one another, was born among the Maronites and has been represented most unequivocally by the Kata'ib. The National Pact has been a thin compromise, and no one group has been able to feel safe in its own particular identity.
