Lebanon and Syria – the “Siamese twins” of the Levant: a Current Situation

Abstract

The Syrian Arab and Lebanese Republics are two neighboring states located in the Middle Eastern subregions, traditionally called the Levant. The close neighborhood of both countries led to the preservation of old and the emergence of new common denominators in the socio-economic, socio-political and religious spheres. In modern historiography, there are disagreements regarding the degree of preservation and definition of the nature of today’s relations between the two states. It is about the recognition or non-recognition of the existence of the exceptional character of the modern Syrian-Lebanese relations. At the same time, among researchers who recognize the fact of preserving many common denominators for both countries, the main issue remains the positive or negative interpretation of the mentioned phenomenon. It should be realized that most of the close ties between Syria and Lebanon, which are not determined by the immediate geographical proximity of both countries, are as the result of external interference in the affairs of the subregion. It is about the arbitrary territorial-administrative division carried out by the Ottoman Empire, the artificial idea of “Greater Syria”, which was popularized by a native of Mecca - Faisal bin Hussein al-Hashimi, and French experiments during the mandated period of the history of both countries. As a result of the above-mentioned interventions, reinforced by the geographical factor, there was an established desire of Syria to incorporate the Lebanese Republic into its structure, supported by a part of the population of Lebanon itself. Even after the end of the period of Syrian occupation of Lebanon (1990-2005) as a result of the Cedar Revolution, the danger of the absorbing the country of cedarsby neighbor state has not disappeared. This is indicated by the presence of a wide range of pro-Syrian politicians in the Lebanese ruling circles and the role played by the Lebanese Shiite militia organization Hezbollah in saving the B. al-Assad regime during the ongoing civil war in Syria.