Word: lebanons
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...network of secret police and informers that penetrates every niche of Iraqi society. If that is swept away, simmering tensions between the Shi'ite Muslims (55% of the population), Sunni Muslims (20%) and Kurds (25%) could conceivably erupt into a communal bloodbath, fragmenting the country into another Lebanon...
...some commentators suggest -- and defuse the hatreds that have made the Middle East the world's most prolific breeding ground for war. French President Francois Mitterrand ticks off a laundry list of regional troubles that must be addressed: "The Arab-Israeli conflict, the Palestinian problem, the problem of Lebanon, the control of weapons sales, disarmament, redistribution of resources, reconstruction of countries...
...look at reliable statistics, however, suggests otherwise. According to Professor Tawfic Farah's survey of 1393 students from Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Kuwait, the U.A.E., Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, only 36 percent of the respondents agreed with the statement that the Arab world extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf; 64 percent disagreed. Concludes Professor Farah, "This is surprising, considering the fact that this is what students are taught in school and hear repeatedly in the media. It is consistent, thought, with the students' general tendency to reject the idea of Pan-Arabism...
...According to Professor Fouad Ajami, the victory of the more "local" Ibn Saud over the "pan-Arab" Shariff Hussein half a century ago may be regarded as the first victory of the state over transnationalism. Dr. Ajami and other experts on the region have interpreted the chronic instability of Lebanon as yet another manifestation of the erosion of Pan-Arabism...
...Bush delivered to Assad by special envoy Vernon Walters in 1989. The Administration then reached an understanding with the Syrians that Damascus would not obstruct U.S.-sponsored peace talks between Israeli officials and Palestinians. In return, Walters pledged that Washington would tolerate Assad's strengthening of his influence over Lebanon and would urge the Israelis to acquiesce in Syria's control as well. As a result, says a U.S. official, the task of persuading Syria to join the anti- Iraq coalition was easier because "we didn't have to start from scratch." Of course, there's still the little matter...