The situation in Lebanon

Lebanon has a lengthy history in the Middle East and a heritage extending back nearly to the beginning of humankind. The region first appears in history in the time of the Phoenicians, around 3000 B.C., and it has been under the rule of Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, the Persian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and others over its long history (Countries of the World Chapter 1). Lebanon became an independent nation in 1943, and the first need was to establish a government that would enable the various communities to live in harmony. The government that was instituted has a president who is traditionally a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunnite Muslim, and the speaker of parliament a Shi'ite, reflecting the different communities to be included. Many defense ministers have been Druzes. The National Assembly is the one-house parliament, with members elected to four-year terms. They represent religious rather than political groups, and the president is chosen by parliament for a six-year term. He appoints the prime minister. By law, every parliament includes six Christians for every five Muslims, and each group is represented according to its

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roups in parliament. Warfare resumed in 1990, and Aoun was ousted by a Syrian-led military attack in 1990 (Compton's Encyclopedia online edition). Lebanese society is still marked by sectarianism and conflict. The dominant culture today is an Arab culture, influenced by Western themes. Lebanon has a shared language, heritage, history, and religion with its Arab neighbors, but there is much that is distinctive about Lebanese culture. Most Lebanese are Arabs ethnically, constituting a majority of more than 90 percent of the population. Still, sectarianism is the dominant social, economic, and political reality, and divisiveness defines the country, with strife within sects as well as between sects. The Lebanese confessional societies embody the tensions at the heart of the larger society. Muslims and Christians have lived together in Lebanon for centuries, but still they have deep disagreements over politics. The Muslims, and especially the Sunnis, have been inclined toward a close association with Greater Syria and the Arab world, while the Christians, and especially the Maronites, want to see Lebanon linked culturally and politically with the Western world. This controversy has extended beyond politics into areas of cult
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