“The country’s role in the region, as indeed the world at large, was shaped by trade.” (Collelo 1987, 42)
The religious division in Lebanon parallels political cleavages in what sort of relationship to pursue among the surrounding Arab states. The Muslim factions throughout Lebanon’s history have wanted to pursue stronger relations with Arab states while the Christian factions have wanted a more Westward policy. Although the National Pact on 1943 states this as a neutral policy, the different sectarian elite that formulate the government, still continue to pursue their autonomous foreign policy. The result of the relatively weak state structure with these politics means the the Lebanese system is highly susceptible to penetration by external actors (Najem, 2003, 211). However, at the same time, being at the heart of conflict, “Lebanon exists within a region that does not tolerate neutrality, making it difficult for it to follow a neutral foreign policy agenda” (Wilkins 2013: 26).
Wilkins notes that “divisions between different substate identity groups, that are also embedded in the Lebanese state, means that each group pursues its own foreign policy agendas and that multiple foreign policy agendas coexist within Lebanon” (Wilkins 2013, 22). These substate actors fracture national unity and therefore “foreign policy-making processes are predominantly about pursuing ‘factional’ interests that are often significantly indebted to the interest of external actors” (Wilkins 2013, 22).
Lebanese look to their confessional communities rather than the nation state for leadership and protection, a section that has continued to this day and which has prevented the development of a common citizenship and strong democratic structures. (Wilkins 2013: 26)
Citations
Collelo, Thomas, “Lebanon: a country study”, Federal Research Division Library of Congress: 1989
Najem, Tom Pierre, “Lebanon and Europe: The Foreign Policy of a Penetrated State,” The Review of International Affairs, Vol 3. No. 2, pp 209-231