October 16, 2024 5:44 pm

Where Is the Lebanese Zelensky?

Lebanon has a real chance to escape Hezbollah’s influence — if the country’s leaders care to seize the opportunity.

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Members of the presidential guards remove a Lebanese flag after former Lebanese president Michel Aoun’s six-year term officially ended, at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, November 1, 2022.

Mohamed Azakir/Reuters

The crisis in Lebanon is also an opportunity. But as of today, one would have to bet that Lebanese leaders will not take advantage of it.

The opportunity is to remove Lebanon from the control of Hezbollah and Iran. That control has existed at least since 2008, when Hezbollah took over. As an analyst at Chatham House put it:

About the Author

Elliott Abrams

Elliott Abrams is a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and served in the Reagan, George W. Bush, and Trump administrations.

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The crisis in Lebanon is also an opportunity. But as of today, one would have to bet that Lebanese leaders will not take advantage of it.

The opportunity is to remove Lebanon from the control of Hezbollah and Iran. That control has existed at least since 2008, when Hezbollah took over. As an analyst at Chatham House put it:

About the Author

Elliott Abrams

Elliott Abrams is a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and served in the Reagan, George W. Bush, and Trump administrations.