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Posts Tagged ‘Lebanon’

About a month ago, Christopher Hitchens, one of the great English-language essayists of our time, passed away. In the time since that unfortunate loss, a flood of obituaries has honored the man. According to the standard accounts, Hitchens was a writer, a rascal, and advocate possessing a remarkable talent for provoking and alienating others – even when [...]

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As if the advice and probing questions of “Guest” weren’t enough, I’ve had to sift through hours of tape to bring you the best of “Biggie’s” take on the region. While that’s not a problem from an entertainment standpoint, it’s a little frustrating to listen to successive barbs directed towards you in what amounts to a [...]

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Year after year, “Guest” has entertained the family with his worldly take on politics and culture. He’s an experienced traveler who’s done business in all kinds of places. In our conversations, Guest has developed a new international relations discipline that I’ll call “Realist Conservative Conspiratory Casual (RC3).” For the most part, his speculations are merely [...]

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Forget about winter merriment. As well as challenging waistlines and livers across the country, Lebanon’s Christmas season offers no respite from intense political debate. Indeed, with members of the family back in town, the holidays are closer to a prolonged political brawl – with breaks to eat and drink, then eat and drink some more [...]

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Last week, in part to prove to my friends that I actually write once in a while, I was fortunate enough to publish a couple pieces in NOW Lebanon (some readers might think that an unfortunate event but, politics aside, they’re a creative and accomodating bunch). One piece, “The Beirut autumn,” was an observational commentary of [...]

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Earlier this year, while battling the bar exam blues, I put together a list of resolutions – doubling as a ”user’s manual” for others – that I hoped to live by upon returning to Lebanon. I’ve been in Beirut since the end of August and will be heading back to the U.S. sometime in January, so an interim review [...]

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In New York last week, I was fortunate enough to hang out at one of my favorite spots: The Bourgeois Pig. Don’t let the name fool you. This place is all about charcuterie, cheese, wine, and things of that sort. Just like many people in the Lebanese Left (and the “Left” around the world). To [...]

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The unrest that has swept though the Middle East this year, particularly the increasingly vigorous revolt - excuse me, D.C. policy wonks, “transition” - in Syria, has had little actual resonance in the streets and squares of Beirut, at least when compared to Lebanon’s own mass mobilizations of 2005. What the Problem Is, Baby? One underexplored element of [...]

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