Back to programme for Jan-June 2005

Substance of talk

Links to some articles giving useful background information and interpretations:

Kamal Salibi: How it all began, an extract from the book "A House of Many Mansions - The History of Lebanon Reconsidered" showing how Lebanon, like its neighbours, was carved by European interests out of the wreckage of the Ottoman Empire.

Lebanon country studies from the US Library of Congress 'Country Studies' site. A wideranging account of Lebanese history and political issues.

Civil War in Lebanon, 1975-1989 Chronology from the History of the Middle East database organised by Ted Thornton of the Department of History and Social Science, Northfield Mount Hermon School

Hassan Krayem: The Lebanese Civil War and the Taif Agreement Strengths and weaknesses of the agreement signed in Taif, Saudi Arabia, in 1989 which ended the civil war and laid the basis for the period of relative peace Lebanon has enjoyed up to the present.

MiddleEastReference.org.uk Invaluable website maintained by Glen Rangwala, known for his exposure of the 'dodgy dossier' on Iraqi intelligence and co-author, with Dan Plesch, of the case for the impeachment of Prime Minister Blair. Includes a general chronology of Middle Eastern politics from 1908 to 2004