ABSTRACT
The critical events in the year 2000 signaled major changes on Lebanon's political landscape. Israel scurried out of Lebanon, while Syria held its ground. Hezbollah radiated with satisfaction and pride. Only Israel and its Lebanese friends lost in the zero-sum accounting. The general elections in August–September provided a political test for Hezbollah's popularity in the aftermath of Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon. In April 2012 Washington outpaced itself by actually turning to Hezbollah through a close intermediary, Abbas Ibrahim, the head of the Lebanese General Security Services, who was close to the revolutionary Shiite party. Hezbollah's participation in the Syrian Civil War began in 2012 in fulfillment of the Iranian-Shiite regional axis. On May 25, 2014, Michel Sleiman's term as president of Lebanon was to end. A parliamentary vote of two-thirds is required to elect a Maronite president; if this is not achieved on the first ballot, then a majority of sixty-five deputies is sufficient.
