Literature Review: Reconciliation and Conflict in Post-War Lebanon

This literature review analyzes the article "Lebanon after the civil war: peace or the illusion of peace?" by Ghosn and Khoury, which discusses the effectiveness of Lebanon's post-conflict strategies following the 1989 civil war. The review highlights the challenges in implementing reconciliation measures and the country's ongoing instability, attributing it to the sectarian system and governmental failures to address civil war abuses. The article explores factors contributing to the 15-year civil war, including the political confession system and demands for governmental reform. It also examines foreign influences and the eventual resolution through negotiations. The review summarizes the article's focus on ineffective governance, the origins of the civil war, and the role of external forces, emphasizing the settlement's reliance on conflicting parties. The review also references related articles by McCulloch and Nagle to provide a comprehensive understanding of the topic.

Running head: ARTICLE LITERATURE REVIEW
ARTICLE LITERATURE REVIEW
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ARTICLE LITERATURE REVIEW
Summary
Ghosn and Khoury in the article entitled "Lebanon after the civil war: peace or the
illusion of peace?" attempts a discussion on the effectiveness as is demonstrated through the
strategies that were followed by Lebanon after the war that had taken place within the country in
the year 1989. The article states that the country of Lebanon has been facing troubles in the
matters that are related to the implementation of the reconciliation measures after the war. The
article further makes and attempt at highlighting the various issues that had resulted from the
implementation of the efforts that were undertaken for the reconciliation of the issue that were
presented after the signing of the peace treaty. The signature of the peace treaty had brought an
end to the civil war that had been raging through the country since the past 15 years1. The
country however retains its nature of being prone to the conflict that exists within the country.
According to a larger section of authors, the conflict-prone nature of Lebanon has contributed to
the secretariat system within the country. The authors attempt to discuss the failures on the part
of the Lebanese government to take care of the issues that arise from the abusive conditions that
had resulted from the civil war within the given country.
The authors of the article have been observed to have discussed the various factors that
had led to the waging of a 15 year long civil war that had ravaged the country. The authors in
this article sheds light on the various factors that might have led to the development of the issues
that have in turn led to the outbreak of the civil war within the given country. The authors
highlight the fact that the country was ruled with the help of the system of the political
confession. The country was in the initial days ruled by a distributed leadership. The country was
1 Ghosn, Faten, and Amal Khoury. "Lebanon after the civil war: peace or the illusion of peace?." The
Middle East Journal 65.3 (2011): 381-397.

2ARTICLE LITERATURE REVIEW
declared to be a sovereign country which recognized the diversity that existed among the
residents of the country as well. The governmental body that had been in charge of the proper
governance and the harmonious existence of the diversified groups was composed of the
representatives of the three distinct groups of people who have been living in the country. The
authors state that the key reason for the breakdown of the government was the inability of the
political body to adapt to the changes that had been taking place in and around the country in
discussion. The main reason for the outbreak of the civil war in Lebanon had been the
modification of the distribution of the power of governance in order to put forth an equality and a
balance among the representation of the people within the government2. The other prominent
reason for the civil war referred to the demand of the residents of the country for the demolition
of the existing government and the establishment of a new political and governance system
within the country that would be based on the equity and secularism unlike the existing
governmental setup that was built on the concept of sectarianism. The war was also fueled by the
various internal conflicts that were present within the state which could not be controlled due to
the weakness on the part of the government of the country.
Opinions
The article in discussion has majorly focused on the issues that have been dealing in the
ineffective nature of the governance that had been present within the country of Lebanon. The
article had helped by shedding major light on the issues that had led up to the civil war within the
country3. The article further sheds light on the various attempts that were implemented by the
foreign forces in order to mitigate the issues that had been bothering the country. The authors
2 Ghosn, Faten, and Amal Khoury. "Lebanon after the civil war: peace or the illusion of peace?." The
Middle East Journal 65.3 (2011): 381-397.
3 McCulloch, Allison. "Consociational settlements in deeply divided societies: The liberal-corporate
distinction." Democratization 21.3 (2014): 501-518.

3ARTICLE LITERATURE REVIEW
further state that the settlement of the civil war had finally resulted from the conditions wherein
the conflicting parties had themselves come down for deriving a resolution to the issues that
were faced by the country4. The article helps in highlighting the various issues that had resulted
from the implementation of a governmental system that was based on the political confession
rather than on equity and secularism.
4 Nagle, John. "Between entrenchment, reform and transformation: ethnicity and Lebanon's consociational
democracy." Democratization 23.7 (2016): 1144-1161.

4ARTICLE LITERATURE REVIEW
References
Ghosn, Faten, and Amal Khoury. "Lebanon after the civil war: peace or the illusion of
peace?." The Middle East Journal 65.3 (2011): 381-397.
McCulloch, Allison. "Consociational settlements in deeply divided societies: The liberal-
corporate distinction." Democratization 21.3 (2014): 501-518.
Nagle, John. "Between entrenchment, reform and transformation: ethnicity and Lebanon's
consociational democracy." Democratization 23.7 (2016): 1144-1161.