![Lebanese army soldiers stand guard in front of a bank that was set on fire.](https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/lebanon-crisis-economy-politics-05142024-1.jpg?w=519&h=259&crop=1)
In Lebanon, a financial meltdown, state dysfunction and a massive explosion at the Beirut port have submerged the country in crisis for nearly half a decade and left three-quarters of the population in poverty. Now, as 2024 progresses, the Lebanese state’s process of disintegration appears irreversible.