VOP-ED: Lebanon's Political System is at the Core of its Malaise

There are no two ways about it, Lebanon is – to use the language of the IR theorists – on the verge of becoming a ‘failed state’, both politically and economically.

Lebanon’s economic crisis underlines the problems that arise from deep structural issues with its political system. Dating back to the French Mandate, the various sects that up modern-day Lebanon divide parliamentary seats, cabinet posts, and ministries between them as part of Lebanon’s confessional – or sectarian – system.