The state flag of Lebanon.

Note, this articles was originally published in November 2005 

Confessionalism in Lebanon is not only a legacy, it is a constructed system, and I would almost venture to say a rational one. What follows is not a historical overview, the likes of which is often tedious when it comes in the guise of an indispensable introduction. This is not even an introduction. If the current debate is about the options open to Lebanon, and the way in which each of us positions ourselves vis-à-vis these options, then let us start by determining the nature of the present moment. I will venture, first, to say that the assassination of the late Prime Minister Hariri, the withdrawal of the Syrian forces from Lebanon, and all the events related thereto, do not constitute ‘the nature of the present moment’ but only some of its manifestations. This nature and its manifestations, although related, are not one and the same thing. Although this presupposes our ability to distance ourselves from what we may feel strongly about, yet perhaps this caution or good judgment is the only thing left for us to do today.

On another note, Lebanon, as all other countries in history of course although perhaps to a greater degree than others—and this assertion is open to analysis and argument—does not exist in isolation, but is affected by, indeed accessory to, what transpires around it in this geographic region. The country’s urgent need to reconstitute its internal dynamics according to new definitions and agreements arises even as stormy winds rage through the entire region, overturning the country’s state of affairs and exposing it to a host of unknown possibilities.