Destruction in Beirut & the Outlook for Lebanon & Beyond
About The Event
**Due to the 8 hour time difference with Beirut, this event will be recorded in advance. If you would like to submit a question for Nicholas Blanford, please sent it to [email protected] **
The massive blast earlier this month that devastated Beirut was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history – and about one tenth of the intensity of the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. Despite the initial relief that it does not appear to have been a terrorist act, the cause and context of the explosion have painfully highlighted the many years of an often ineffective, corrupt, divided and non-transparent government.
Although Lebanon is a small nation, for decades it has been seen as both an example of possible hope and also disillusionment for the Middle East with its efforts towards shared governance, modernization and the coexistence of many differing religious and sectarian groups.
In addition to being one of the best educated and most culturally diverse nations in the region, Lebanon has also long been a significant player with its shared borders with Israel and Syria, but also as a proxy location for dangerous contests between Iran and Sunni states, such as Saudi Arabia and certain Gulf States.
Acclaimed journalist Nicholas Blanford will discuss how and why Lebanon has changed during the past 25 years he has lived there, and also what the future may hold for the nation and the Middle East.
About The Speaker
Nicholas Blanford is a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs.
He covers the politics and security affairs of Lebanon and Syria. He is an acknowledged expert on Lebanese Hezbollah, particularly the organization’s evolving military activities, which have remained a focus of his work for two decades.
Blanford is a Beirut-based consultant and a defense and security correspondent for IHS/Jane’s. Previously, he was the Beirut correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor. In addition, he wrote regularly for The Times (London), The Daily Star (Beirut), and Al-Jazeera America. His work has also appeared in the New York Times, The Boston Globe, USA Today, and The National (Abu Dhabi).
Based in Lebanon since 1994, he has also reported from Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and Morocco. He regularly participates in seminars and conferences and has briefed government agencies and militaries on issues related to the Levant. He has also participated in Track II discussions connected to the Middle East peace process.
Blanford is the author of “Warriors of God: Inside Hezbollah’s Thirty-Year Struggle Against Israel” (Random House, 2011); and “Killing Mr. Lebanon: The Assassination of Rafik Hariri and its Impact on the Middle East” (IB Tauris, 2006). He wrote the Lebanon chapter in “The Islamists Are Coming: Who They Really Are,” ed. Robin Wright (Woodrow Wilson Center, 2012); and the introductory essay to “The Voice of Hizbullah: The Speeches of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah” (Verso, 2007).
Organizer
