Warlord Politics and Economic Clientelism in Lebanon

Authors

  • Sebastian Ille New College of the Humanities at Northeastern
  • Dina Mansour-Ille Royal United Services Institute (RUSI)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15355/epsj.16.1.28

Keywords:

Lebanon, post-war economy, civil war, warlord politics, clientelism, crony capitalism

Abstract

Since October 2019, Lebanon has been going through a deep economic and financial crisis that drove the country to a political meltdown. Facing a severe recession, high inflation and unemployment, nationwide protests in the aftermath of the Beirut explosion in August 2020 have led to the resignation of Hassan Diab’s cabinet – the second government to resign within the span of a few months. This article studies the interplay of the political, economic, and social factors that led to the current economic and political crisis. We show how warlord politics, and a corporate consociational system have misguided incentives and policies and consolidated a rentier economy that inevitably led to the current situation.

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Published

2021-04-25

How to Cite

Ille, S., & Mansour-Ille, D. (2021). Warlord Politics and Economic Clientelism in Lebanon. The Economics of Peace and Security Journal, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.15355/epsj.16.1.28

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