Misunderstanding

The title of "misunderstanding" could, in many ways, stand at the top of many an article or reflection on the Middle East. Although western societies have spent immense time and effort seeking to better understand the Arab world and the broader Middle East over the past couple of decades, it seems to me that not a lot of this has flowed down to the level of popular understanding. In some ways, the quest to better understand this part of the world parallels in part the US investment in study of the Soviet Union in the 1940s onward. This earlier quest produced some of the great centers of study of Eastern Europe, Russia, Central Asia, etc., that continue to function at places like Indiana University, where I had the privilege to study. Despite years of meaningful and insightful work designed in part to inform public understanding, simpler narratives seem to have prevailed in popular understanding. Perhaps that is just the way of things in this world. Simpler narratives are unquestionably easier to digest. 

A view over Beirut with the Mediterranean in the background

I travel to a lot of interesting places. But few raise eyebrows more than Lebanon. It seems that the popular conception of this place is one of a battered, war-torn Middle Eastern metropolis. Not all that long ago, this was true as the city rose from the ashes of their civil war. Yet Beirut historically and today is one of the world's most cosmopolitan and arguably most beautiful cities with variegated, intersecting cultures. Contrary to a lot of popular understanding in the West, Lebanon is in many ways the center of Arab Christianity. For many years, Lebanon's identity was defined by its predominantly Christian population. This has changed as demographics have shifted toward Muslims since the establishment of huge Palestinian camps in the south of Lebanon after 1948. The delicate balance of power between the Christian population, and large Sunni and Shia Muslim populations (along with others - Druze, Alawite, etc.) has been the defining element of Lebanon since World War II. 

Beirut and Lebanon are, it seem to me, some of the more misunderstood places on earth. Perhaps it is the enduring images of the Lebanese Civil War that endured from 1975-1990 or the iconic images of the bombing of the US marine barracks in 1983 that conjure a prevailing understanding of chaos, disorder, and extreme religious strife. Granted -- chaos, disorder, and extreme religious strife do constitute a significant part of Lebanon's history and culture, especially during my lifetime. Yet even this tension arises out of the incredible diversity and cosmopolitan nature of this beautiful land.