The roots of crisis in Northern Lebanon

  • May 7, 2014
The roots of crisis in Northern Lebanon

Gates Cambridge Scholar Raphael Lefevre was one of the main speakers at a major conference in Beirut on the roots of extremism in Northern Lebanon this week organised by the Carnegie Middle East Center.

Gates Cambridge Scholar Raphael Lefevre was one of the main speakers at a major conference in Beirut on the roots of extremism in Northern Lebanon this week organised by the Carnegie Middle East Center and Human Rights Watch.

The basis for the conference, which was attended by Lebanese government ministers, foreign Ambassadors and local and international media, was Raphael’s recent report, The roots of crisis in Northern Lebanon. A senior adviser to the Lebanese Prime Minister has called the report a “major contribution to our understanding of the rise of religious extremism and political violence in Lebanon”.

It looks at how the Syrian conflict is impacting on northern Lebanon, where street violence is rising, sectarianism is at unprecedented levels, and Sunni extremism is flourishing. Raphael says: “This instability threatens to spread to other areas of the country.  Yet, Lebanon’s problems have as much to do with domestic dynamics as with the unrest in Syria.”

It details areas where the government could lessen tensions, such as addressing socio-economic problems, addressing long-standing religious tensions between different neighbourhoods and enhancing security.

The conference, hosted by The Carnegie Middle East Center and Human Rights Watch, focused on these sectarian dynamics and socio-economic challenges in the Bab al Tebbaneh and Jabal Mohsen neighborhoods. It also evaluated the Lebanese state’s response to the Tripoli conflict in terms of security provision, protection of civilians and socio-economic relief.

Raphael [2012], who is doing a PhD in Politics and International Studies, was nominated a Visiting Scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center earlier this year.

Picture credit: Tripoli, Lebanon. Wiki Commons and Heretiq.

Latest News

Scholar working on Supreme Court case

A Gates Cambridge Scholar is working on a case involving the retroactive application of a law on restitution payments which comes before the US Supreme Court this week. Atticus DeProspo […]

Exploring nuclear security at a time of global tensions

Janani Mohan [2023] is at the centre of one of the biggest topics of our times – nuclear security. Janani is an expert in nuclear policy, having worked in the […]

Scholars launch mentorship scheme to help Palestinian students

A group of students, initially brought together by Gates Cambridge Scholars, and now expanding beyond both Gates and Cambridge, has formed the Palestine Educational Opportunity Initiative (Pal Ed) to support […]

How and where do religious minorities claim their rights?

A Gates Cambridge has just published a book which charts a new way of understanding minority rights based on an exploration of the everyday life of Muslim women’s activism in […]