ABSTRACT
This chapter is an attempt to discuss the Lebanese drama from the immediate sequel of the Civil War to the date of publication. In early February 1978, the Syrian Arab Deterrent Force clashed with elements of the small largely Christian Lebanese Army at the barracks of Fayadiah, outside Beirut, and sporadically with the Christians of 'Ayn al-Roummana. Opposed to Anwar Sadat's trip to Jerusalem were the Syrians and the Lebanese Muslims; in favor of it were some of the Loyalists, even if they feared a separate Israeli-Egyptian peace that might leave the Palestinian question unsolved. In June 1978, it did not seem likely that the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) presence would lead to any real solution of Lebanon's basic problems, but of course, nothing could be predicted for sure of this particular epicenter of the Middle Eastern imbroglio.
