0:00 Intro

2:29 Preconditions

8:57 Sovereignty

28:25 Militia

34:21 Neutrality

50:00 Baabda Declaration

1:02:11 Federalism

1:25:24 Intellectual Journey

We're with Hicham Bou Nassif for Episode 273 of The Beirut Banyan.

We discuss lost sovereignty, the necessity for a foreign policy of neutrality including examples from the late 1950s and 60s, and the wider debate on decentralization and federalism in Lebanon.

Our conversation includes false equivalence when it comes to comparing political parties with a militia, the 2012 Baabda Declaration's limited impact on local attempts at disassociation, and Hicham's intellectual curiosity and journey when it comes to political science and Lebanese history.

Hicham Bou Nassif is an Associate Professor of Government at Claremont McKenna College - California.

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Music by Marc Codsi. Animation & illustration by Sana Chaaban.