31・05・2017
Safe Borders or an Unsafe Future?
n an unusual gesture for a Lebanese president, 83-year-old President Michel Aoun, who commanded the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) from 1984 to 1989, took it upon himself to drop by the Ministry of Defense (MoD) on May 17, 2017.
09・05・2017
Lebanon’s Irreversible Slow but Steady Relapse…
Until a couple months ago, Lebanon’s supposed political crisis could be described as its parliament's inability to convene and elect a new president. However, on October 31 last year ...
02・01・2017
In the Shadow of Aleppo’s Fall, Hezbollah Grows New Wings
On December 21, 2016, a spokesperson from the U.S. Department of State denied Israeli allegations that Hezbollah was using armored vehicles provided to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) by the United States.
03・11・2016
Ending Lebanon’s Presidential Vacancy
Two Despite the rocambolesque nature of its four rounds of elections, Lebanon finally has a new president. He is none other than General Michel Aoun, who was born in Haret Hreik in 1935.
18・04・2016
Saudi Arabia Breaks Its Own Lebanese Taboos
Two chief factors usually come to mind regarding the nature of the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Hezbollah.
11・03・2016
Reviewing what we think we know about Lebanon
The introduction to this report, part of a USIP-funded endeavor, is titled “Stability vs. Instabilities.
07・01・2016
Linking The Capitals of “Resistance”
It is never advisable to begin a new year by passing along bad news. Nevertheless, reporting bad news as it becomes available—whenever that may be—could help prevent the creation of even worse news later.
08・09・2015
Taking Some Stock of the Lebanese Garbage Protests
Who knew that garbage was so attractive? Well, there's no longer any doubt about it in Beirut.
06・07・2015
Summary Results of a Nationwide Poll15 questions for the Lebanese Shia Community
Compared to Lebanon’s many other communities, the image held typically by members of its Shia community is that it is essentially a “closed society.”
21・04・2015
The Perplexity of being a Better Royalist than the King… Quo Vadis Hezbollah?
Less than 24 hours after Saudi Arabia announced that it had commenced operation “Storm of Decisiveness” (March 26) ...
27・03・2015
Lebanon 2005 – 2015 …Still in the “Syrian Time Zone”
The many commemorative events scheduled to take place during 2015 include the tenth anniversaries of Rafic Hariri’s assassination ...
09・02・2015
Hezbollah's Efforts to Safeguard its Image
Near the end of a two and a half hour interview with Hezbollah’s secretary general broadcast January 15 by al-Mayadeen television ...
26・01・2015
Bearing the High Cost of Iran’s Multifaceted Ambitions
Iran’s Sepah Pasdaran (Revolutionary Guards) confirmed several days ago that one of its generals was killed
31・12・2014
Approaching the 40th Anniversary of April 13, 1975
As Beirut was preparing to ring in the New Year, an explosion rocked the city on December 27, 2013.
20・08・2014
Achieving an Open, Quantitative and Community-Based Understanding of Lebanon's Shia CommunityPolling Dahiyeh
As Hezbollah's military, political and organizational capabilities ...
13・08・2014
The “Dispenser Policy”
Although a complete accounting of what really happened in Arsal beginning August 2 has not been given by Lebanese political and military authorities ...
24・07・2014
Shouhadaa Wanted!
A running joke is that only the Quds Brigades accountant is sure of how many Lebanese Shia affiliated within Hezbollah’s military ...
25・06・2014
Learning to Interpret "Bad Things" as "Good News" The Limits of Lebanon's Domestic Entente
Near midnight Beirut time on June 23, just when the World Cup match between Cameroon and Brazil had reached one of its peaks
02・06・2014
Lebanon's Presidential Vacancy: Is It Really about Filling a Position? Followed by: Lebanon's Vacuum vs. Syrian Saturation
Islamic theology holds that two kinds of jihad exist: large and small.
01・05・2014
THE BIG SALEThe True Cost of Maintaining Lebanon's "Stability"
On April 19, 2014, a meeting chaired by Lebanon's March 14 (and more precisely by pro-Future, Sunni Minister of Interior Nohad al-Machnouk)
24・01・2014
No Authority That Overlooks Lebanon's Political Diversity Shall Be LegitimateOpen Letter to His Excellency the President of the Republic from a Group of Lebanese (Shia) Citizens
31・12・2013
Snapshots of 2013The Twilight of Lebanon's Myths...
Throughout 2013, the ephemeral concept of "stability" for Lebanon remained the primary preoccupation for everyone with an interest in the country.
22・11・2013
One Embassy for Another... Examining the Twist in This Drama
he conclusion to the lines above, excerpted from one of the first “self-historiographic” essays to focus on Hezbollah
15・09・2013
The Trap of Comparative Violence:Is "Iraqization" the Least of Lebanon's Evils?
Quite often, it seems that the Lebanese and non-Lebanese who follow with concern the country's affairs
01・08・2013
Blacklisting Hezbollah's Military Wing:
After years of deliberation, the European Union finally voted on July 22 to blacklist Hezbollah's so-called “military wing” after characterizing it as a terrorist organization.
17・07・2013
Second Statement of the Shia Personalities
In light of recent developments, the following named individuals met together to deliberate and craft a response
15・07・2013
The Lawyer of the Cedars An Interview with Chibli Mallat
In its reports, ShiaWatch strives to highlight stories and opinions typically missed or ignored by mainstream media outlets.
17・06・2013
Premises and Positions Lebanese (Shia) Address the Lebanese
In recent years, the voices of dissent and the initiatives they spawn have both been increasing in volume within the Shia community.
04・06・2013
Lebanese Parliamentary Extension A Setback for Democracy
30・05・2013
The "Hezbollah Complex" Lebanese Shia caught between megalomania and self-depreciation
A few days ago, I attended a seventh-day commemoration held at a Husseinya in the neighborhood of Hay es-Sollom.
26・05・2013
Ordinary Cannibalism Covering "Hezbollah Fighters" and Lebanese Shia "boys" dying in Syria
n general, dealing with death is a tricky issue. But dealing with the deaths associated with an organization you oppose staunchly because of its ideology ...
18・05・2013
"Resisting" in Damascus Tracking Syria in Nasrallah's Speeches
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah discarded any intention he may have had about being subtle in his recent May 9 speech.
01・05・2013
The Sentinels of the Sitt
While wandering in some quarters of Dahiyeh, it is no longer surprising to spy the slogan “By Hassan and Hussein, Zaynab will not be captured twice!
29・04・2013
The "Assassination" of the STL... Another victory for Lebanon's culture of impunity
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) seems ready to make its final curtain call after an unknown website (which vanished as quickly as it appeared last April 8 – 9) published the court’s list of witnesses.
17・04・2013
Sheikh Hassan Mchaymech Sentenced to Five Years in Prison
fter having spent more than a year in legal limbo and being forced to accept eleven trial postponements, Sheikh Hassan Mchaymech was finally sentenced by Lebanon’s Military Court to serve five years in prison.
10・04・2013
An Eleventh Postponement... Could This Be the Last? Developments in the Case of Sheikh H. Mchaymech
Significant progress was made on Monday, April 8 in the trial of Sheikh Hassan Mchaymech when Lebanon’s Military Court finally sentenced him on some of the charges.
03・04・2013
A Tenth Postponement... But New Facts May Move the Case Forward Developments in the Case of Sheikh H. Mchaymech
The March 20 session of the ongoing trial of Sheikh Hassan Mchaymech marked the first time the Military Court permitted testimony to be given by witnesses ...
30・03・2013
Najib Mikati's Resignation
According to his official website, Najib A. Mikati “began his political career in 1998 as Minister of Public Works and Transport.
15・03・2013
Trading Beirut for Damascus... Are the Lebanese ready to use the knives they've been sharpening?
On March 3, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri sparked a political firestorm when he asserted, “The Arab dust, which is called the Arab Spring ...
25・02・2013
Orsal: The End of Lebanon’s Disassociation Policy?How a few remote villages could mean trouble for Lebanon’s official stance on Syria…
On Friday, February 1, 2013, two Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) soldiers were killed ...
25・01・2013
A Ninth Postponement...
The most recent hearing in the continuing legal drama of Sheikh Hassan Mchaymech, Lebanon’s “Prisoner of Conscience,” was held January 18,2013.
25・10・2012
An Eighth Postponement...
As if the Lebanese judiciary’s charge against Sheikh Hassan Mchaymech of having been in “collaboration with Israel” wasn’t enough of a crime by itself ...
30・09・2012
From Dearborn with Love
Most often, when the media addresses Hezbollah’s global reach, it focuses on highly visible areas such as the organization’s capacity for conducting ...
17・09・2012
An “Istanbul Council” to Redefine Coexistence in the Middle East
Beginning September 7th, the Turkish Center for Islamic Studies (ISAM) and the Marmara University Institute for Middle East Studies hosted a noteworthy ...
25・08・2012
The Call of the Two Sayyeds
On August 9, 2012, a remarkable joint statement was issued by two of Lebanon’s most respected senior Shia clerics, Sayyed Mohammad Hassan Al-Amine and Sayyed Hani Fahas.
15・08・2012
From Political to Field Support Hezbollah’s Involvement in the Syrian Crisis
As the revolution in Syria rages on, Hezbollah’s support for the regime of Bashar al-Assad remains unswerving.
10・08・2012
Sheikh Hassan Mchaymech: A Prisoner of Consciousness Update on his Sixth Trial Session
Lebanon’s Sheikh Hassan Mchaymech, an outspoken Hezbollah critic and staunch opponent of the Wilayat al-Faqih theory, “disappeared” on July 7, 2010 while crossing the Lebanese-Syrian border.
10・06・2012
The Sunni-Shia Reckoning
The Syrian crisis has helped bring to a boil many of the tensions and unresolved grievances that have been simmering in Lebanon for decades.