Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War (Arabic: الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities[5] and also led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon.[6]
The diversity of the Lebanese population played a notable role in the lead-up to and during the conflict: Christians and Sunni Muslims comprised the majority in the coastal cities; Shia Muslims were primarily based throughout all of southern Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley in the east; and Druze and Christians populated the country's mountainous areas. At the time, the Lebanese government was running under the significant influence of elites within the Maronite Christian community.[7][8] The link between politics and religion had been reinforced under the French Mandate from 1920 to 1943, and the country's parliamentary structure favoured a leading position for Lebanese Christians, who constituted the majority of Lebanon's population. However, the country's Muslim minority was still relatively large, and the influx of thousands of Palestinians—first in 1948 and again in 1967—contributed to Lebanon's demographic shift towards an eventual Muslim majority. Lebanon's Christian-dominated government had been facing increasing levels of opposition from Muslims, pan-Arabists, and a number of left-wing groups. To this end, the Cold War exerted a disintegrative effect on the country, closely linked to the political polarization that preceded the 1958 Lebanese crisis. Christians mostly sided with the Western world while Muslims, pan-Arabists, and leftists mostly sided with Soviet-aligned Arab countries.[9]
Fighting between Lebanese Christian militias and Palestinian insurgents (mainly from the Palestine Liberation Organization) began in 1975 and triggered the establishment of an alliance between the Palestinians and Lebanese Muslims, pan-Arabists, and leftists.[10] However, over the course of the conflict, these alliances shifted rapidly and unpredictably. Furthermore, the internal strife deepened as foreign powers, namely Syria, Israel, and Iran, became involved and supported or fought alongside different factions. Various peacekeeping forces, such as the Multinational Force in Lebanon and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, were also stationed in the country during this time.
In 1989, the Taif Agreement marked the beginning of the end for the fighting as a committee appointed by the Arab League began to formulate solutions to the conflict. In March 1991, the Parliament of Lebanon passed an amnesty law that pardoned all political crimes that had been perpetrated prior to the law's time of enactment.[11] In May 1991, all of the armed factions that had been operating in Lebanon were dissolved, excluding Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Shia Islamist militia. Though the Lebanese Armed Forces slowly began to rebuild as Lebanon's only major non-sectarian armed institution after the conflict,[12] the federal government remained unable to challenge Hezbollah's armed strength. Religious tensions, especially between Shias and Sunnis, persisted across Lebanon since the formal end of the hostilities in 1990.[13]
Aftermath
Post-conflict Syrian occupation
The post-war occupation of the country by Syrian Arab Republic was particularly politically disadvantageous to the Maronite population as most of their leadership was driven into exile, or had been assassinated or jailed.[115]
In 2005, the assassination of Rafik Hariri sparked the Cedar Revolution leading to Syrian military withdrawal from the country. Contemporary political alliances in Lebanon reflect the alliances of the Civil War as well as contemporary geopolitics. The March 14 Alliance brings together Maronite-dominated parties (Lebanese Forces, Kataeb, National Liberal Party, National Bloc, Independence Movement) and Sunni-dominated parties (Future Movement, Islamic Group) whereas the March 8 Alliance is led by the Shia-dominated Hezbollah and Amal parties, as well as assorted Maronite- and Sunni-dominated parties, the SSNP, Ba'athist and Nasserist parties. The Syrian civil war is also having a significant impact on contemporary political life.
"Lebanonization"
Lebanonization is a pejorative political term meaning the process of a country degenerating into a civil war or failed state in reference to the Civil war, first used by Israeli president Shimon Peres in 1983, referring to Israeli minimization of its presence in Lebanon following the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.[120][121][122][123][124][125]