“The war in Lebanon was the result of several highly connected internal and external conditions that have been in the making for a long time. … Causal … forces rooted in the existing social and political structures of the country, while [contributing forces] aggravated the internal conflicts and set the process of confrontation into motion, triggered a set of events already in the making that awaited only the proper time and place.”
Regarding this quoted statement, the purpose of our paper is to show the reasons that led to the Civil War in Lebanon from 1975 till 1990. Usually, four causes can be found throughout the literature we used for this paper: the social context within Lebanon itself, namely the unbalanced sectarian or confessional system and socioeconomic problems, namely the United States, Israel and Syria. This paper mainly deals with the causes expressed above. We do not want to describe the war itself in all its details or provide a historical chronology, instead discussion of the war will be restricted to the description of landmark events.
However, the named causes worked together in waging the Civil War. One cannot separate them from one another. Mutual interactions took place between them leading to bloodshed and hatred. The Lebanese people needed almost five decades to settle down these causes from which almost all were already present since the independence in 1943. The first attempt to resolve some of the problems with the National Pact of 1943 did not last long, before the second Civil War broke out in 1958. The latest peace agreement, the Taif Accord from 1990, reviewed most of the causes, trying to adopt political measures to prevent another outbreak of violence. Still, the accord did not get rid of the sectarian problem so far.
This paper will not deal with these events in great details. References will be made according to their importance for the topic. In this regard, we try to answer not only the questions of the causes but also how they interrelated and how they contributed to the escalation of the situation in Lebanon. Our paper describes first the social context starting with the unbalanced confessional system, followed by the socioeconomic problems. Afterwards we want to write down how the Palestine issue contributed to the Civil war and how the external actors USA, Syria, and Israel caused more and more troubles, which led to the extent of the conflict.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Lebanese Sectarian System: The Failed Balancing Act
3. Socioeconomic Reasons for the Civil War
4. Contributing Forces I: The Palestine Issue
5. Contributing Forces II: External Actors
5.1 The Influence of the United States
5.2 Israel and the PLO in Lebanon
5.3 Syria’s Role as a “Peace-Broker”
6. Concluding Remarks
Research Objectives and Themes
The primary objective of this paper is to analyze the multi-faceted causes that led to the Lebanese Civil War from 1975 to 1990. By examining the interplay between internal societal structures and external geopolitical influences, the authors seek to explain how these factors collectively destabilized the nation and fueled the long-lasting conflict.
- The impact of the Lebanese sectarian and confessional political system.
- Socioeconomic disparities and their role in creating communal grievances.
- The destabilizing influence of the Palestinian refugee presence and the PLO.
- The strategic intervention and conflicting roles of external actors (USA, Israel, and Syria).
Excerpt from the Book
The Lebanese Sectarian System: The Failed Balancing Act
The state of Lebanon is build upon a “mosaic social structure”. Diverse religious and ethnic communities with a hierarchical mode of organization play the key role in social life. Instead of developing a national identity this system produced only vague loyalties towards the government as a whole but strong sectarian identifications. Moreover, the sectarian structures led to inner conflicts among the different groups.
Lebanon’s political system is based upon confessionalism, a term that describes “a social system that recognizes the principle of religious communities being vested with political authority.” This system evolved with the specific Lebanese set of population. The country consists of many sects of whom neither one can claim to be the majority population. Each community can regulate its own matters and is allowed to have its own courts and laws. The sects function as social organizations, developing more and more into “semiautonomous sociopolitical communities with distinct political and administrative functions.” Within the Muslim-Christian relationship, a struggle over meaning and importance and supremacy of one of these two groups came into existence, produced through the historical events and foreign interventions.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter defines the scope of the study, identifying four primary causal pillars: the sectarian social context, socioeconomic problems, the Palestinian presence, and the involvement of external international actors.
2. The Lebanese Sectarian System: The Failed Balancing Act: This section explores how the confessional system, originally intended to balance power among religious groups, ultimately fostered sectarian divisions and political rigidity.
3. Socioeconomic Reasons for the Civil War: This chapter examines the correlation between religious identity and economic status, highlighting how wealth inequality and unequal opportunities aggravated internal communal tensions.
4. Contributing Forces I: The Palestine Issue: This chapter details the impact of Palestinian refugees and the PLO, illustrating how their presence and military activity acted as a catalyst for local conflict and foreign intervention.
5. Contributing Forces II: External Actors: This chapter analyzes the roles of the United States, Israel, and Syria, explaining how their respective agendas and military interventions internationalized the crisis.
6. Concluding Remarks: This final section reflects on the post-war situation and the limitations of the Taif Accord in truly dismantling the sectarian structure that initiated the conflict.
Keywords
Lebanese Civil War, Confessionalism, Sectarianism, Socioeconomic Inequality, PLO, National Pact, Taif Accord, Maronites, Muslim-Christian relations, External Actors, Geopolitics, Lebanon, Middle East Politics.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the central focus of this paper?
The paper examines the diverse internal and external factors that precipitated the Lebanese Civil War from 1975 to 1990, moving away from a purely chronological history to focus on causal interactions.
Which thematic fields does the research cover?
The research covers the Lebanese confessional political system, socioeconomic class divisions, the Palestinian refugee crisis, and the strategic interventions of the United States, Israel, and Syria.
What is the primary research question?
The core objective is to identify the underlying reasons for the Civil War and to explain how social, political, and external forces intersected to escalate the conflict to such an extreme level.
What research methodology is applied?
The authors employ a qualitative analysis based on an extensive literature review, examining historical and political developments through the lens of key social and geopolitical variables.
What is discussed in the main body of the work?
The main body investigates the failure of the National Pact, the structural inequality of the confessional system, the military impact of the PLO, and the specific motivations behind the military involvement of regional and global powers.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Key terms include Lebanese Civil War, confessionalism, sectarianism, socioeconomic inequality, the PLO, and the Taif Accord.
How did the 1943 National Pact contribute to future conflicts?
It institutionalized a rigid power-sharing arrangement based on outdated census data, which favored the Maronite community and failed to adapt to subsequent demographic shifts, thereby generating long-term grievances.
Why did Syria and Israel intervene in the war?
Syria sought to maintain a sphere of influence and prevent radical destabilization on its borders, while Israel aimed to eliminate the PLO infrastructure and establish a friendly neighboring government.
- Quote paper
- Andrea Becker (Author), Maren Reyelt (Author), 2001, The Lebanese Civil War 1975-1990: Its Causes and Actors, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/4315
