Word: lebanon
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...Ministry of the Interior, began focusing on problems that might actually make a difference in the lives of average Lebanese. In particular, the police began cracking down on the single biggest cause of death in the country: not terrorism, or war, but traffic accidents. After years without traffic enforcement, Lebanon's roads were dysfunctional and dangerous, with stoplights often ignored and one-way traffic directions optional, and too many drivers acting like they're on the Autobahn. So the police began setting up seat-belt checkpoints and speed traps, enforcing motor vehicle inspections, and ending corrupt practices such...
...past, such a weak Lebanese army was in the best interest of all the major regional players - from Iran and Syria to Israel and the U.S. - who used the country as a battlefield to settle their own scores. But there is an emerging consensus on all sides that Lebanon needs its own sovereign security forces to keep the country from being inundated by the Sunni jihadist insurgents who pose a threat both to American interests and to the Shi'a Lebanese who support Hizballah. So Lebanon has been receiving Russian weapons and American military aid, mostly focused on tactics...
...banned the exotic financial instruments and over-leveraged practices that became common in the rest of the world. While Salame took office before President Suleiman came to power, the validation of his banking policies are adding further shine to the reputations of the country's non-partisan officials. Suddenly, Lebanon feels like an island of stability in a world upside down...
Taken together, the Suleiman team is hoping that it can do to Lebanon what American mayors such as Rudolph Giuliani did for American cities in the 1990's. Employing a "broken window" theory of governance, they are hoping that by restoring law and order to the basic parts of public life, they can create an appetite among all Lebanese for law and order in all aspects of government...
Unfortunately, Suleiman and his caretaker team probably won't have enough time to make a real dent in Lebanon's political culture. Parliamentary elections scheduled for June are likely to reopen all the old wounds. Both sides seem unprepared to return to the status quo. Hizballah no longer trusts its rivals to leave the group's military infrastructure untouched. And the American-supported coalition is busy scaring voters with dire scenarios of what will happen if the Hizballah opposition wins enough seats to form its own government: international sanctions and isolation akin to what happened when Hamas rose to power...