November 4, 2019 | FDD's Foreign Podicy

Troubles Mount in Lebanon

Episode 43

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Episode 43

For weeks, the people of Lebanon have been taking to the streets to demonstrate against the political class that rules them – or, rather, misrules them. They’re protesting corruption, economic mismanagement, high unemployment and poor government services.

But there’s something else at work, something much of the media are reluctant to report: the extent to which Hezbollah, a proxy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, a terrorist organization deeply involved in international organized crime, now calls the shots in Lebanon.

FDD research fellow Tony Badran, Lebanon born and bred, and Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former CIA operative, now a senior fellow at FDD, join Foreign Podicy host Cliff May to discuss the turmoil in the Levant and the policy responses of the United States and other countries.

Protesters take to the streets of Beirut in the ongoing anti-government protests on November 13, 2019. (Getty Images)
A Lebanese anti-government protester in front of burning tires used to block a main road at the entrance of Tripoli, the capital of north Lebanon, on November 13, 2019. The previous night, street protests erupted across Lebanon after President Michel Aoun defended the role of Hezbollah in Lebanon's government, cutting off several major roads in and around Beirut, Tripoli and the eastern region of Bekaa. (Getty Images)
A Lebanese anti-government protester, draped in Lebanon's national flag, sits on the rooftop of 'The Egg' buildling overlooking the Mohammed al-Amin mosque and Martyrs Square in Beirut's downtown district on November 14, 2019. (Getty Images)