Can Lebanon Escape Confessional Politics?
Confessionalism is a system of government that proportionally distributes political and institutional power among religious and ethnic communities. Lebanon's confessional system has both helped preserve a modicum of inter-communal stability and contributed to the breakdown of state and society from 1975 to 1990.
Today, confessional politics are again at the center of the country's political and economic problems that could threaten the civic peace prevailing since the end of Lebanon's civil war. Panelists critically considered confessional politics in today's Lebanon and the implications on the region.
Speakers
- Marwan Kraidy
Professor, American University | Fellow, Woodrow Wilson Center - Hisham Melhem
Washington Bureau Chief, an-Nahar newspaper | Senior Analyst, al-Arabiyya TV - Hassan Mneimneh
Columnist, al-Hayat newspaper | Director, Iraq Memory Foundation - Imad Harb, Moderator
U.S. Institute of Peace
Archived Audio
To listen to audio or to view video, please click on the links provided below. You also can right click on the links and choose "Save Target As" or "Download Linked File." This will save the file to your computer and then allow you to play it in your media player directly. More Audio Help.
- Listen to the audio from this event.
2:05:14 - 22MB
