Coexistence in wartime lebanon : decline of a state and rise of a nation

For fifteen years, Lebanon's disparate confessional groups waged a bloody and protracted civil war.

Still today, power-sharing between Sunni, Shi'i, Christian and Druze groups is a precarious balance, greatly affected by and in turn affecting events across the Middle East.

But even during times of conflict, Lebanon's communities have managed a modicum of coexistence: agreeing on the importance of maintaining the Lebanese state and sharing the fear of being the player left standing in a macabre game of musical chairs.

Tracing the origins of the civil war, Theodor Hanf shows that it was primarily a surrogate war over Palestine which escalated into a conflict between the diverse Lebanese communities.

Hanf's central theme is the problem of conflict and conflict regulation between these groups, a theme which continues to have resonance over two decades since the end of the civil war.

This highly influential book - now available in a paperback edition - delves into vital issues, such as how conflicts were peacefully regulated before the war, and how the country came to be a battlefield for proxy wars and analyses the prospects for permanent coexistence.