Reply #19: Who should run Lebanese foreign policy?

[Laotra]

I suggest the Lebanese people should, certainly not US or UN.

The problem is that, under Taif, Christians got about 50% of the seats, Sunni 20%, Shia 20% and the 10% for the Druzi. That means Shia are hugely underrepresented, as the demographic estimates (last census from 1934 badly outdated) are currently: Shia 40-45%, Christians 30-40%, Sunni 20%, Druzi and the rest 10%. The democratic legitimacy of the Cedar revolution is thus highly questionable.

Hezbollah agreed to the underrepresentation against the promise that their militia could keep their arms, to guard the southern border against Israel as a semi-official military force (which naturally gives political influence inside Lebanon to balance their parliamentary underrepresentation). Syria agreed as it wants armed Hizbollah militia as a chip in negotiations to get Golan back.