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https://theconversation.com/lebanons-crisis-has-gone-from-bad-to-worse-but-is-anyone-listening-169645>
"In the midst of a pandemic that has wrenched the world off its axis, Lebanon’s
precipitous decline has not received the attention it deserves given the
country’s strategic importance.
Bordering Syria to its north and east, and Israel to its south, Lebanon
occupies a critical space in the Eastern Mediterranean. Its collapse would risk
spilling over into surrounding areas.
The country is sagging under the weight of a vast refugee population from
neighbouring Syria and a permanent Palestinian refugee presence. It certainly
qualifies as a “crisis state”, which the London School of Economics defines as
one in “acute stress”.
The question is whether the “crisis state” becomes, to all intents and
purposes, a “failed state” under the LSE definition of one that “can no longer
perform its basic security and development functions”.
Lebanon, which has taken more than a year to form a new government after an
ammonium nitrate explosion ripped through its port area and forced the
resignation of the government of the day, is again teetering on the brink.
Fuel shortages, which this week shut down its main power stations, have drawn
the world’s attention to Lebanon’s continuing slide towards outright ruin."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
