Conference given by Karim Bitar, a researcher at the  Institut de Relations Internationales et Stratégiques. Within the  framework of the Aula Árabe Universitaria program.

The conference is also available on our Youtube Channel: youtu.be/UjLGXRMohPw

Going  from bad to worse, Lebanon has been plunged into one crisis after  another since 2020: from the financial sector, due to major depreciation  by the Lebanese pound and hyperinflation, to the weakened humanitarian  aid sector. Added to the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic was the  devastating explosion in the port of Beirut, which killed 250 people and  wiped out important port infrastructures. With the current war in  Ukraine, the wheat imports on which the Lebanese depend to survive will  most likely lead to a rise in hunger rates. Over half of the country has

The  parliamentary elections to be held on May 15, 2022 are viewed as  anopportunity to respond to the year 2019 protests, which demanded an  end to ruleby the political elites who have run the country since the  end of the civil war andsunk it into the current state of crisis.  Despite the people’s protests, however, thereligious party-based regime  has resisted yielding power and continues its fight toremain in place.  Observers warn of high levels of corruption and manipulation in an  atmosphere of chaos and illegitimacy, exacerbated by international  pressures not to postpone the election. Within this context, the  likelihood of a post-election debacle resulting in major difficulties is  very high.

This session of Aula Árabe Universitaria is being held  with the cooperation of the Master’s degree program in Political  Science and Public Affairs at Saint Louis University’s Madrid campus.  The event is presented by Barah Mikaïl, director of the Political  Science and International Relations program at Saint Louis University,  and moderated by Karim Hauser, Casa Árabe’s International Relations  Coordinator.

Karim Bitar is a researcher at the Institut de  Relations Internationales et Stratégiques (IRIS) in Paris and editor of  the French monthly magazine L’ENA hors les murs. He is an associate  member of the Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP) and an associate  researcher at the Institut Medea in Brussels. He is a professor of  International Relations and History of Political Thought at several  universities. He also frequently testifies before the Foreign Affairs  Committees of the French and European Parliaments. He has authored  various chapters and articles in Le Monde diplomatique, Libération, Le  Monde, Informed Comment, Atlantico, La Vanguardia, An Nahar, L’Orient-Le  Jour, etc., as well as editing and co-writing the collective book  Regards sur la France, in which 30 personages from around the world  analyze France’s strengths and weaknesses.

Foto: Gregor Enste ( Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung en Flickr)

Further information: en.casaarabe.es/event/quo-vadis-lebanon