Citizen Hariri

Rafiq Hariri was Lebanon's Silvio Berlusconi: a 'self-made' billionaire who became prime minister and shaped postwar reconstruction. His assassination in February 2005 almost tipped the country into civil strife. Yet Hariri was neither a militia leader nor from a traditional political family. How did this outsider rise to wield such immense political and economic power? Citizen Hariri shows how the billionaire converted his wealth and close ties to the Saudi monarchy into political power. Hariri is used as a prism to examine how changes in global neoliberalism reshaped Lebanese politics. He initiated urban megaprojects and inflated the banking sector. And having grown rich as a contractor in the Gulf, he turned Lebanon into an outlet for Gulf capital. The concentration of wealth and the restructuring of the postwar Lebanese state were comparable to the effects of neoliberalism elsewhere. But at the same time, Hariri was a deeply Lebanese figure. He had to fend against militia leaders and a hostile Syrian regime. The billionaire outsider eventually came to behave like a traditional Lebanese political patron. Hannes Baumann assesses not only the personal legacy of the man dubbed 'Mr Lebanon' but charts the wider social and economic transformations his rise represented.

Outlines the impact of the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran across the Middle East, challenging assumptions about 'proxy wars' and sectarianism.

In Architecture, Power and Religion in Lebanon, Ward Vloeberghs explores Rafiq Hariri’s patronage and posthumous legacy to demonstrate how built fabric becomes a tool to convey political messages in contemporary Lebanon.

A reflective examination of everyday life in Lebanon in times of precarity and political torpor.

'Claire Launchbury and Megan C. MacDonald’s edited collection of essays offers a series of comparative analyses of the literary and filmic texts, contexts, and crossings of the Mediterranean region. [...] The book immediately illustrates the breadth, depth, and interdependenc of what has become known as Mediterranean Studies. The collection expands the borders of the Medite rranean space, and posits it as a place of constant identitarian and linguistic interrogation for both those who occupy it and those who document it. [...] This collection will be a valuable resource for scholars who are looking for a contemporary and comprehensive entry point into Mediterranean Studies. [...] With its focus on transnationalisms, genre and border crossings, and complicated identities in the constantly reinvented and reinventing space of the Mediterranean, Launchbury and MacDonald’s collection offers a wealth of literary and cultural routes to follow.' Maria Vendetti, Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature

This comprehensive Handbook gives an overview of the political, social, economic and legal dimensions of citizenship in the Middle East and North Africa from the nineteenth century to the present. The terms citizen and citizenship are mostly used by researchers in an off-hand, self-evident manner. A citizen is assumed to have standard rights and duties that everyone enjoys. However, citizenship is a complex legal, social, economic, cultural, ethical and religious concept and practice. Since the rise of the modern bureaucratic state, in each country of the Middle East and North Africa, citizenship has developed differently. In addition, rights are highly differentiated within one country, ranging from privileged, underprivileged and discriminated citizens to non-citizens. Through its dual nature as instrument of state control, as well as a source of citizen rights and entitlements, citizenship provides crucial insights into state-citizen relations and the services the state provides, as well as the way citizens respond to these actions. This volume focuses on five themes that cover the crucial dimensions of citizenship in the region: Historical trajectory of citizenship since the nineteenth century until independence Creation of citizenship from above by the state Different discourses of rights and forms of contestation developed by social movements and society Mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion Politics of citizenship, nationality and migration Covering the main dimensions of citizenship, this multidisciplinary book is a key resource for students and scholars interested in citizenship, politics, economics, history, migration and refugees in the Middle East and North Africa.

Tripoli, Lebanon's 'Sunni City' is often presented as an Islamist or even Jihadi city. However, this misleading label conceals a much deeper history of resistance and collaboration with the state and the wider region. Based on more than a decade of fieldwork and using a broad array of primary sources, Tine Gade analyses the modern history of Tripoli, exploring the city's contentious politics, its fluid political identity, and the relations between Islamist and sectarian groups. Offering an alternative explanation for Tripoli's decades of political troubles – rather than emphasizing Islamic radicalism as the principal explanation – she argues that it is Lebanese clientelism and the decay of the state that produced the rise of violent Islamist movements in Tripoli. By providing a corrective to previous assumptions, this book not only expands our understanding of Lebanese politics, but of the wider religious and political dynamics in the Middle East.