Ola Rifai | عُلا الرفاعي

1st section examines govt efforts to reconstruct national identities through the armed forces, education, and currency. Second section explores state–society relations, focusing on the lack of trust between the state and society, as well as among various societal groups.

The lesson of 1976 is not that intervention works. It is that interventions intended to solve short-term problems often create long-term disasters. Lebanon paid the price for decades. Syria eventually paid one as well

📌 The decisive question is whether more moderate officials within the movement and the broader Shiite community will think rationally and rescue the community from this suicidal attempt. Or whether they will hammer the remaining nails in their coffin.

📌 Lebanese history demonstrates that militias rise and fall according to shifting political circumstances. The so-called al mared al shyy’ Shiite giant emerged from oppression, marginalisation, and also as a result of occupation. But over time, it became a source of instability

📌 Such a transition could contribute to rebuilding social cohesion and reducing sectarian polarisation within Lebanon and beyond. Alternatively, the conflict could spiral in the opposite direction, triggering broader sectarian fragmentation across the region.