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.
Lebanon’s financial crisis, worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Beirut Port explosion, has pushed the country into a slow-burning collapse. Now, given Lebanon’s sectarian political system and history of internal conflict, the state’s inability to properly fund its armed forces could result in a rapid deterioration of security.
Last Thursday, the International Monetary Fund released a statement describing Lebanon’s situation as “very dangerous,” due to the government’s failure to implement reforms. For ordinary Lebanese, that means navigating a landscape that combines the volitivity of a crashing stock market with the horrors of a dystopian movie.
