Suchergebnisse

This paper measures political legitimacy in postwar Lebanon. In connection with this several aspects such as political efficacy, government responsiveness, & satisfaction with public policy have been tested. The data were collected between Mar & Apr 1998, & come from a nationwide survey of 774 Lebanese. The findings disclose a Lebanese lack of politically efficacious feelings & indicate, also, the weakness of government responsiveness. Judgments about government performance differ about the policy area: discontent with economic, welfare, & social policies contrasts with a more positive evaluation of public order & foreign policy. Finally, respondents exhibit little support for the existing government & would prefer to have its current form changed. The study drives its importance from the fact that billionaire Rafik Hariri, a three-time former premier, was again designated prime minister on 22 Oct 2000, 2 years after being ousted from power & blamed for the acute economic crisis. Hariri, who was denounced for his ambitious program of political reforms & economic policy during his first period in office between 1992 & 1998, is expected to reverse the country's economic decline under the outgoing government. While there are strong indicators that Hariri will continue his previous policy, the survey findings indicate the shortcomings that should be remedied if the new government desires to overcome the country's current political, economic, & social problems. 4 Tables. Adapted from the source document.

Examines presence of armed Palestinians in refugee camps; potential for religious and ethnic instability threatening to reignite civil war and resolution of refugee crisis as a precondition for Middle East peace. Lebanese reluctance to permanent settlement and integration of Palestinians, repatriation and "right of return", and impact on Arab-Israeli relations.

Lebanese Muslim reactions to the September 11 attacks are assessed using the hypotheses that receptiveness to dogmas of militant Islam and young age would predict approval of the attacks, and education and income, although important in explaining the domestic component of political Islam, would have no bearing on support for the September 11 terrorist attacks. In view of the recent surge of Sunni Muslim militancy, it is proposed that Sunni respondents would show greater support for the attacks than Shi'is. The data were obtained from a stratified random sample consisting of 337 Sunni and Shi'i male and female respondents to an opinion poll conducted in the Greater Beirut area during October and November 2001. The findings verify the proposition that proneness to militant Islam and age predicted approval of the attacks but do not verify the hypothesis that Sunni respondents exceeded Shi'is in approval for the attacks.

In an analysis of the 2000 elections in Lebanon, the country's third parliamentary election since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war, it is thought that election results demonstrate a certain optimism that Rafiq Hariri, the victor, could revive Lebanon's economy; however, there are problems -- political instability, Syrian hegemony, & ongoing tensions both among the country's constituent faiths & its neighbors. A profile of Hariri, a Saudi Arabian citizen & billionaire, reveals his ambitions to modernize & rebuild the country. Whether Hariri can surmount his rivals & foes (Lebanese president Emile Lahoud, former Prime Minister Salim Hoss, Syria) remains to be seen. Given political instability, lack of solidarity, bureaucracy, waste, corruption, etc, it is unlikely. Adapted from the source document.