How Lebanon Became a Failed State

Lebanon has been in a state of permanent crisis since 2019, seeing its currency collapse, its GDP halved and its political systems in stasis. So in this video, we'll explain how it got to this point and why the country looks unlikely to ever recover.

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00:00 Introduction
01:05 Pre-1990
03:47 1990-2019
05:51 2019-Now
07:53 Skillshare

[TLDRnewsGLOBAL]

Some commenters have pointed out that the Spanish Civil War started in 1936, not (as we suggest in this video) 1931. This is true, but we used the 1931 figure because that's when the World Bank considers the beginning of Spain's economic crisis and when Spain's per capita GDP first started declining (with the decline accelerating during the civil war in 1936-39). For context, from 1931 to 1940, Spain's per capita GDP declined by 35%, and didn't return to 1931 levels until the mid-60s.


Hope that clears things up and that you nonetheless enjoyed the video!

[alimansour]

My dad is from Lebanon, I showed him this video and he said he couldn’t have summed it up any better. Great work with this video guys 👍

[Thursday]

Almost impressive how they managed to half their Gdp in 5 years. Thats some serious dedication.

[mohammedx]

As Lebanese thank you for shining light on our struggles that's been going for the longest i can remember 🇱🇧

[BeCuzMe]

@03:10 "fell out" is a funny way to say they started a war with Jordan because they wanted to overthrow the government/monarchi

It also wasnt "fled" as much as it was "kicked out"

[rubenfigueiredo]

I'm sorry but describing the conflict between PLO and Jordan as a falling out made me genuinely laugh. What a very generous reach.

[TerryDBlack]

My god what happened to our man at 6:15 ? Total self-wipeout

[mazw]

This quote by Robert Fisk perfectly describes Lebanon:

“It may have beautiful mountains, fine food, an extraordinarily well-educated population, but it is sectarian. It’s a bit like owning a Rolls Royce complete with fresh leather seats, a flat screen television and a cocktail bar – but with square wheels. It doesn’t work.”

[mkb]

Poor Lebanon, everything went wrong at the same time.

[hilarybeaumont]

Friend is Lebanese who immigrated to Canad. Sadly his elderly parents are stuck there and it is so heartbreaking to hear him speak of his beautiful homeland. And yet so few are aware of what is happening there.

[danny.j]

This is a great example that if you feel that economy is slowing down, prepare a plan for a few years of economic downturn, try to come up with ideas on how to revitalise it. DO NOT try to get quick buck to cover the problems, it just snowballs.

[Ikcatcher]

Seeing videos like these make me glad of my own country for all its flaws, isn’t as bad as others

[o_s-]

I was in Lebanon three months ago. It was HORRIBLE. No electricity, price and currency uncertainty, lawlessness, extreme levels of poverty, Beirut is in a complete state of chaos. All that, and tourism is BOOMING, mostly from gulf-people.

I am from Lebanon, but I moved abroad in 2019 for obvious reasons.

Oh, and that guy at 6:15 really summarized the situation.

[mph]

This might be the best and most riveting video I can recall watching on the TLDR channels. Wonderfully elucidating, sharp, and on-point. Fantastic work.

[GingerWaste]

to be clear, Israel DOESN'T want war in Lebanon, we had wars with them twice, and we did occupy the south from the late 80's until 2000.
and so we know that only bloodshed will result from another. we aided the forces Christians (we called them Tzha-Dal) but to no avail.
Israel is home to many displaced Cristian Lebanese who fought in the civil wars, and many in Israelis feel a kinship with them.
I hope that our divided nations, will find the peace and stability we all long for

[Robnas]

I was in Lebanon a few months ago visiting family and exploring the country for the first time in 19 years. It was amazing in so many ways. It’s so sad to see what’s going on there. My only question is what happens next? Where do they go from here? Is it even possible for this nation to recover

[kenster]

7:50 A crucial piece is information here being that Hezbollah is directly controlled by the Iranian regime, so they simply do whatever they're told to do. In other words: Hezbollah is NOT an independent actor. All the territory that it controls is consequently controlled by Teheran. And all they money that they receive is donated by Teheran.

[diomuda]

In Europe, we nicknamed Bosnia "Lebanon of the Balkans" because how similar they are. Lebanon's power sharing is based on three religious sects (Shia, Sunni and Maronite); while in Bosnia, the country has three Presidents representing different ethnic groups (Croats, Serbs, Bosniaks). And like Lebanon, Bosnia risks becoming the next failed state.

[jamesthomashtunkyaw]

Lebanon: we have corrupt government, high inflation and collapsing economy.

Myanmar: we have a ruthless military dictatorship that let high inflation, mismanagement, economic and social collapses to occur.

Man as a Burmese myself, we never feel so sympathetic to Lebanon like this...

[manana]

3:11 What a nice way of saying they caused a civil war and were, following it's end, kicked out.