Warlord Politics and Economic Clientelism in Lebanon
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15355/epsj.16.1.28Keywords:
Lebanon, post-war economy, civil war, warlord politics, clientelism, crony capitalismAbstract
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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