The assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri a decade ago not only cut down one of the region’s moderate Muslim leaders but also became a major catalyst for the broader sectarian war currently engulfing the Middle East.
Hariri’s death initially gave rise to Lebanon’s pro-democracy March 14 movement, one of the region’s most hopeful political trends. Over time, though, the country’s democratic dreams were shattered as the Iranian-backed Hezbollah tightened its grip in Lebanon and the Arab uprisings of 2011, symbolized in the nonviolent opposition that first arose against Syria’s Assad, descended into radicalism and war.
Indeed, in the wake of Hariri’s murder, clear fault lines are now readily seen between Sunni and Shia, Saudi Arabia and Iran, moderate and extremist. The question now facing Lebanon and the rest of the Middle East is which path will the region follow in the years ahead—that of Hariri, the moderate who sought to educate Lebanese students across the sectarian divide to build a bright future for the country, or that violent, anti-democratic ideology of his assassins?
Hudson Institute hosted a panel discussion on Rafik Hariri’s legacy and the future of Lebanon and beyond. Hudson Senior Fellows Lee Smith and Michael Doran joined Tony Badran of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and Hussain Abdul Hussain, Washington bureau chief for al-Rai (Kuwait) to discuss how Lebanon’s fate may shape the region for years to come.
Please join Hudson Institute for a fireside chat with Senior Fellow and Keystone Defense Initiative Director Rebeccah Heinrichs and John Spencer, chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point and co-director of the Urban Warfare Project.
Join Hudson Institute and the Ben Franklin Fellowship for a two-panel discussion examining US policy as it confronts the crisis of terror in Nigeria.
Join Hudson Institute's Center for the Economics of the Internet for a keynote address given by Tricia Paoletta on the Trump administration's progress in managing and reallocating the electromagnetic radio frequency spectrum from the federal domain.
Join Hudson Institute for a discussion with Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson and Senior Fellow Harold Furchtgott-Roth.
