INTRODUCTION
This research examines United States (U.S.) national security and the crisis of political stability in Lebanon. The topic is examined through (1) a review of the political prob lems experienced by Lebanon since the founding of the modern State of Israel and the settlement in Lebanon of Palestinians, and (2) an assessment of Lebanon's political instability in the context of U.S. national security. The purpose of this exami nation is to develop an answer to the following question: Is political stability in Lebanon a vital factor in the context ofU.S. national security?
POLITICAL PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED BY LEBANON
SINCE THE FOUNDING OF THE MODERN STATE OF ISRAEL, AND THE SETTLEMENT OF
Bishara Khoury headed the Lebanese government from 1943 to 1952.1 He understood that cooperation among the country's many factions was essential for national survival. Thus, while it was necessary for the Christian factions to permit some degree of national support for Pan Arab nationalism, it was, at the same time, necessary for the Sunni segment of the Lebanese pop ulation to temper their support for this movement.2
Khoury declared to the Lebanese parliament in 1943 that the country was "a homeland with an Arab face seeking the bene ficial good from the culture of the West."3 In pursuing poli cies based on this perception of the country, Khoury (1) abol ished Lebanon's customs union with Syria, which made the Chris tian factions in the country happy, and (2) committed the Lebanese Army to the Arab cause in the first Arab Israeli war in 1948, which pleased the Lebanese Sunnis.4
The performance of the Lebanese Army in the 1948 war was unimpressive.5 To the army's credit, however, it did engage the Israeli army, and its presence in the war bought the coun try some early credit with the other Arab nations. The Leban ese Army, however, had not been developed as a force to act
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