ABSTRACT
In the long history of Lebanon, there is a powerful mixture of charm and grief. This magical country is adorned with multiple and various civilizational layers ranging from ancient to modern times. Lebanon holds a very special and remarkable place as a country that shines in the history of the ancient world. The Crusader period in the East, which brought European Christian armies to Lebanon in 1099, offered the Maronites an alliance with France against the predatory Muslim environment. The annals of history suggest that the Maronites were far more than "first among equals" in their own self-image and in the perceptions of others. In the double narrative of Lebanon as a Maronite homeland and a multireligious polity, there is the double problem of domestic complexity and regional vulnerability—facing Palestinians, Syrians, Arabs, and Iranians. Perhaps Lebanon is now being tested in the turmoil of the days passing over it, with an eye to eternity.
