Lebanon has long been known as a place of civil war, military occupation as well as weak and poor governance. The Lebanese capital Beirut, once dubbed the Paris of the Middle East has fallen into disrepair. Corrupt tribal, clan and sectarian politics has picked the bones clean from the Lebanese state leaving Southern Lebanese Hezbollah as the country’s only true power centre. This group, considered by Israel and the West and a terrorist organisation and an active proxy of Iran, is representative of only a proportion of southern Lebanon’s Shiite community. Hezbollah is akin to the fox ruling the squabbling chickens of the Lebanese hen house. Can the national aspirations of the  Lebanese people for a fair, representative and just society emerge out of the wreckage of the country’s sectarian strife? In this episode of The Focus, John speaks with Rami G. Khouri to find out.

Lebanon has long been known as a place of civil war, military occupation as well as weak and poor governance. The Lebanese capital Beirut, once dubbed the Paris of the Middle East has fallen into disrepair. Corrupt tribal, clan and sectarian politics has picked the bones clean from the Lebanese state leaving Southern Lebanese Hezbollah as the country&rsquo;s only true power centre. This group, considered by Israel and the West and a terrorist organisation and an active proxy of Iran, is representative of only a proportion of southern Lebanon&rsquo;s Shiite community. Hezbollah is akin to the fox ruling the squabbling chickens of the Lebanese hen house. Can the national aspirations of the &nbsp;Lebanese people for a fair, representative and just society emerge out of the wreckage of the country&rsquo;s sectarian strife? In this episode of The Focus, John speaks with Rami G. Khouri to find out.

STRATEGIKON is the podcast of SAGE International (SAGE), an Adelaide-based private think-tank specialising in the analysis of foreign policy, international and national security issues in Australia's 'defence state' of South Australia. Est. in 2015 STRATEGIKON is hosted by SAGE Founder/CEO Dr. John Bruni, long-time media commentator on national security issues & co-hosted by SAGE colleague, David J. Olney. STRATEGIKON is produced by Michael Migali, who is also ‘the asker of occasional questions.’ Our podcast is proudly powered by the Auscast Network, Australia’s Coolest Podcasting Network. Let STRATEGIKON be your window to all things security and foreign affairs.

STRATEGIKON can be found on Twitter, YouTube, and the SIA website.

Early episode music courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com): "One-eyed Maestro" Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution

STRATEGIKON is the podcast of SAGE International (SAGE), an Adelaide-based private think-tank specialising in the analysis of foreign policy, international and national security issues in Australia's 'defence state' of South Australia. Est. in 2015 STRATEGIKON is hosted by SAGE Founder/CEO Dr. John Bruni, long-time media commentator on national security issues &amp; co-hosted by SAGE colleague, David J. Olney. STRATEGIKON is produced by Michael Migali, who is also &lsquo;the asker of occasional questions.&rsquo; Our podcast is proudly powered by the Auscast Network, Australia&rsquo;s Coolest Podcasting Network. Let STRATEGIKON be your window to all things security and foreign affairs.
STRATEGIKON can be found on <a href="https://twitter.com/STRATEGIKON_SA">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC42y4xdIkOIIVeD-lQlPh9w">YouTube</a>, and the <a href="https://www.sageinternational.org.au/podcast/">SIA website</a>.
Early episode music courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com): "One-eyed Maestro" Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution