Lebanon "at the brink of an abyss"

With all that's going on in Iran, Pakistan, and Venezuela, we haven't been posting much about Lebanon, but this article by Karim Makdisi is a welcome and insightful look at the current crisis in Lebanese politics. Makdisi spends a lot of time discussing the core of the dispute surrounding the upcoming presidential election, detailing the positions of both the pro-US March 14 Coalition (who call for an immediate disarming of Hizbullah and avoidance in Lebanon of larger regional problems) and the opposition (who consider their March 14 opponents proponents of Israel/the US), but he also explains the potential problems that may result in the next two years, even if a consensus is reached.

Siniora must step down on the November 23, so we'll try to keep NE readers posted on what is going on in the next two days.