The discussion on Pompeo’s visit begins at 15:04.

In this episode, Nizar and Ben analyze (ok rant about) the recent visit of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Lebanon, in which he gave a tone-deaf speech about Lebanon and Hezbollah, and avoided any press questions.

Also discussed on the thirty-ninth episode of The Lebanese Politics Podcast: Lebanon loses a much beloved figure, Oscar, the social media savvy dog of Walid Jumblatt who passed away this week, the Syrian war enters its ninth year and a new phase, the latest on the Tripoli by-election, Paula Yacoubian hits back against smear attacks, and cabinet discusses a plan to fix Lebanon’s electricity woes.

Music track: Zuhal by Elepheel, check out his other work @elepheel

The discussion on Kamal Jumblatt begins at 13:39.

In the third edition of our historical figures’ series, Nizar and Ben analyze the life and legacy of Kamal Jumblatt, the prominent Druze politician who was assassinated 42 years ago on March 16, 1977. An intellectual man of principle or an idealist who failed to grasp the political realities to the detriment of the entire country? How Kamal Jumblatt’s legacy is viewed is very much dependent on the political leanings of the viewer.

For more see:

- Chapter 10 and 11 in Fawwaz Traboulsi's book "A History of Modern Lebanon" (2007).

- Nasr, Salim (1978). "Backdrop to Civil War: The Crisis of Lebanese Capitalism" - paper discussing the material reality that fueled the 1975 - 1990 civil war.

- Investigative documentary(Arabic)by Al-Jazeera on Jumblatt's assassination. https://youtu.be/ck6MogN_J28

- Video of Walid Jumblatt meeting late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad shortly after his father Kamal's assassination (which Assad has been accused of ordering). youtube.com/watch?v=dvJp-QQ8x1Q

Also discussed on the thirty-eighth episode of The Lebanese Politics Podcast: Nasrallah asks for donations as a result of the latest US sanctions; director-general of the finance ministry, Alain Bifani, hits back at Sinora; Khalil announces the audits for 1993-2017 are with the Court of Audit; Parliament gets to work ratifying the Paris agreement, rolling over Eurobonds, extending the 1/12 rule to May, and authorizing a treasury advance to EDL; and Paula Yacoubian causes multiple stirs with her allegations against Nader Hariri and being dropped from Sabaa.

Music track: Zuhal by Elepheel, check out his other work @elepheel

The discussion on criminal justice begins at 17:34.

This week Nizar and Ben are joined by Ghida Frangieh, the president of Legal Agenda to discuss the Lebanese criminal justice system—how the system is meant to work in theory, how it works in practice, and what challenges it faces in terms of resources, judicial independence, detention, and institutional biases.

Also discussed on the thirty-seventh episode of The Lebanese Politics Podcast: the UK decision to ban Hezbollah in its entirety, a landmark ruling in the LBCI case, an anti-corruption push on the back of state hiring and Fadlallah submitting files on the missing billions, and cabinet getting to work.

Music track: Zuhal by Elepheel, check out his other work @elepheel

The discussion on LGBTQ rights begins at 20:40.

This week Nizar and Ben are joined by Youmna Makhlouf, a lawyer with Legal Agenda and Tarek Zeidan, the executive directer of Helem, a Lebanese LGBTQ rights organization, to discuss legal rights, Lebanese social attitudes, and the activism of the Lebanese LGBTQ community. Among the topics covered are controversial article 534, Legal Agenda's successes in the courts, how trans Lebanese bear the brunt of discrimination, and data that showing that attitudes are beginning to change.

Also discussed on the thirty-sixth episode of TLPP: Parliament votes to give cabinet confidence, while debates in the chamber get personal, the results of the election appeals are in with a by-election called for Tripoli, and the new interior minister's comments resurrect the debate on civil marriage.

Music track: Zuhal by Elepheel, check out his other work @elepheel

The discussion on Rafiq Hariri begins at 12:50.

Our second episode on historical figures important to Lebanon investigates the life and legacy of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. Hariri, father to the current prime minister, came from humble beginnings in Saida before emigrating to Saudi to make his fortune. He was instrumental to the agreement that ended Lebanon’s civil war before serving as prime minster from 1992-1998 and 2000-2004. His assassination on February 14, 2005 shook the nation and shaped the politics of what was to come, including the withdrawal of Syria from the country. Known as Mr Lebanon, Ben and Nizar look into the complex legacy of the man who on his death became untouchable to most Lebanese.

Also on the thirty-fifth episode of The Lebanese Politics Podcast, a horrific case of self-immolation over a school fee dispute, the political bickering between Jumblatt and Hariri, and how our newest ministers have begun to make their mark.

For more on Rafiq Hariri see:

- Dibeh, G. (2005): The Political Economy of Post-war reconstruction in Lebanon

- Blanford, N. (2006): Killing Mr Lebanon

- Baumann, H. (2016): Citizen Hariri

Music track: Zuhal by Elepheel, check out his other work @elepheel

For those as impatient as we were, the cabinet discussion begins at 05:10.

It’s finally happened! A mere 252 days in the making and Lebanon has a new government! In the thirty-fourth episode of The Lebanese Politics Podcast, Ben and Nizar get to work analyzing the new cabinet. Who were the winners? Who were the losers? Who are the new cabinet ministers, old faces and new? And most importantly, what does this mean moving forward for Lebanon?

Music track: Zuhal by Elepheel, check out his other work @elepheel

Budget discussion begins at 18:27.

Welcome to The Lebanese Economics Podcast … Jeremy Arbid, the economics and policy editor at Executive Magazine, joins Ben and Nizar to analyze all the issues surrounding the budget. We promise it’s not as boring as it sounds.

Also discussed in the thirty-third episode of The Lebanese Politics Podcast, continuing protests, the failure of the Arab Economic and Social Development summit, Qatar’s pledge to buy $500 million in Eurobonds, Moody’s downgrade for Lebanon, and how to avoid the fiscal cliff.

Music track: Zuhal by Elepheel, check out his other work @elepheel

McKinsey begins at 15:06.

As promised, Ben and Nizar have combed their way through over 1200 pages (ok slides) of the McKinsey report to bring you their analysis of the firm’s ‘economic vision’ for Lebanon. Spoiler alert, they found themselves mostly unimpressed.

Also discussed in the thirty-second episode of The Lebanese Politics Podcast: the mystery of storm names has been solved, and between the meeting of Christian politicians at Bkirki and the Arab economic summit it seems Lebanon’s political class had little time to think about forming a government.

Read the McKinsey report here https://economy.gov.lb/media/11893/20181022-1228full-report-en.pdf

Music track: Zuhal by Elepheel, check out his other work @elepheel

The Lebanese Politics Podcast is back and kicking off season two! Ben has made it safely back into Lebanon just in time to enjoy our second massive storm of the winter season—though he has some déjà vu when it comes to all the criticism of the poor infrastructure in the country.

In fact, it might be a new year, but all the problems are still the same: Lebanon is now in its second longest cabinet formation crisis in its history, the economy seems to be teetering on the brink, and street protests are breaking out once again. Listen to episode thirty-one to get caught up on the latest.

Music track: Zuhal by Elepheel, check out his other work @elepheel

Yalla bye begins at 24:03.

What a weekend in Lebanese politics. The thirtieth episode of The Lebanese Politics Podcast is our last show of 2018 and we’ve got a lot for you. Nizar is back to help Ben breakdown all the drama in the war of words between former MP Wiam Wahhab and Prime Minister-elect Saad Hariri, which unfortunately escalated into violence.

We also talk the Streisand effect, for those in Lebanon who try and to bury a story through defamation charges and all but guarantee it winds back up in the press. The ongoing dispute between the government and the generator owners also escalated this week, with the seizure of the first two generators for non-compliance. Some good news in the mix: KAFA has secured cross party support for an amendment to the domestic violence law. Cabinet, meanwhile, remains stalled on the question of the six Sunni MPs.

Also out this week, the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE) have released a damning report on the May parliamentary elections, critiquing the law, the implementation of it, and the chaos of the election itself. We take a mini deep dive into the conclusions of the report, given our own start as an elections podcast.

And as this is the last episode of season one—TLPP will be returning for a second season in mid-January—we thought it would be a good time to reflect on the politics of 2018, the obsession with the elections in the run up, and the inability to translate the results into a workable government since. Because really, what was the point of 2018?

Music track: Zuhal by Elepheel, check out his other work @elepheel