ABSTRACT
In January 1958 the dominant question was what position the United States would adopt on the issue of the presidential succession in Beirut. By May, political turmoil had issued into civil war. The US ambassador's view of the situation was that the policies Sham'un was pursuing risked transforming Lebanon into a garrison state, a "sort of Christian Israel beleaguered by its neighbors and incapable of sustaining itself except under guns of foreign warships." The succession of condemnations, warnings, and alarms affected the Embassy, simultaneously forcing its support of Sham'un while maintaining links to the opposition. In Beirut and in New York, at the United Nations, the United National Front condemned US military assistance and involvement in Lebanon's civil war. Charles Malik's presentation, "The Middle Eastern Crisis Affecting Lebanon," subordinated the domestic roots of the Lebanese civil war to regional and international considerations.
