the human province

Sweden? These Scandinavians have been known to be great at brokering agreements, but how on earth could they "build up" the Lebanese state?

I followed you all the way up until here. It's true that Lebanon will have a hard time becoming a truly unified democratic state due to 1.) Consociational parliamentary system, 2.) Supra-state organizations with military means (ie Hizbullah, Israel, and perhaps the US), and 3.) Lack of cooperation between different interest groups, most notably evidenced by the lack of differing votes across religious sectarian lines.

In terms of outside influence, I favor diplomatic over military solutions. Yet, I still can't fathom how could a country like Sweden could resolve these counter-state conditions.



-KM

Sweden is, perhaps ironically, a huge arms dealer, and as a neutral source of weaponry that neither the government nor the opposition would oppose, Stockholm is in a good spot to build up the Lebanese armed forces so that they could defend the country from Israeli incursions.

A strong central state/army is exactly what would give armed actors less of an excuse to keep their weapons.

Sweden? These Scandinavians have been known to be great at brokering agreements, but how on earth could they "build up" the Lebanese state?

I followed you all the way up until here. It's true that Lebanon will have a hard time becoming a truly unified democratic state due to 1.) Consociational parliamentary system, 2.) Supra-state organizations with military means (ie Hizbullah, Israel, and perhaps the US), and 3.) Lack of cooperation between different interest groups, most notably evidenced by the lack of differing votes across religious sectarian lines.

In terms of outside influence, I favor diplomatic over military solutions. Yet, I still can't fathom how could a country like Sweden could resolve these counter-state conditions.



-KM

Sweden is, perhaps ironically, a huge arms dealer, and as a neutral source of weaponry that neither the government nor the opposition would oppose, Stockholm is in a good spot to build up the Lebanese armed forces so that they could defend the country from Israeli incursions.

A strong central state/army is exactly what would give armed actors less of an excuse to keep their weapons.

Sweden? These Scandinavians have been known to be great at brokering agreements, but how on earth could they "build up" the Lebanese state?

I followed you all the way up until here. It's true that Lebanon will have a hard time becoming a truly unified democratic state due to 1.) Consociational parliamentary system, 2.) Supra-state organizations with military means (ie Hizbullah, Israel, and perhaps the US), and 3.) Lack of cooperation between different interest groups, most notably evidenced by the lack of differing votes across religious sectarian lines.

In terms of outside influence, I favor diplomatic over military solutions. Yet, I still can't fathom how could a country like Sweden could resolve these counter-state conditions.



-KM

Sweden is, perhaps ironically, a huge arms dealer, and as a neutral source of weaponry that neither the government nor the opposition would oppose, Stockholm is in a good spot to build up the Lebanese armed forces so that they could defend the country from Israeli incursions.

A strong central state/army is exactly what would give armed actors less of an excuse to keep their weapons.

Sweden? These Scandinavians have been known to be great at brokering agreements, but how on earth could they "build up" the Lebanese state?

I followed you all the way up until here. It's true that Lebanon will have a hard time becoming a truly unified democratic state due to 1.) Consociational parliamentary system, 2.) Supra-state organizations with military means (ie Hizbullah, Israel, and perhaps the US), and 3.) Lack of cooperation between different interest groups, most notably evidenced by the lack of differing votes across religious sectarian lines.

In terms of outside influence, I favor diplomatic over military solutions. Yet, I still can't fathom how could a country like Sweden could resolve these counter-state conditions.



-KM

Sweden is, perhaps ironically, a huge arms dealer, and as a neutral source of weaponry that neither the government nor the opposition would oppose, Stockholm is in a good spot to build up the Lebanese armed forces so that they could defend the country from Israeli incursions.

A strong central state/army is exactly what would give armed actors less of an excuse to keep their weapons.

Sweden? These Scandinavians have been known to be great at brokering agreements, but how on earth could they "build up" the Lebanese state?

I followed you all the way up until here. It's true that Lebanon will have a hard time becoming a truly unified democratic state due to 1.) Consociational parliamentary system, 2.) Supra-state organizations with military means (ie Hizbullah, Israel, and perhaps the US), and 3.) Lack of cooperation between different interest groups, most notably evidenced by the lack of differing votes across religious sectarian lines.

In terms of outside influence, I favor diplomatic over military solutions. Yet, I still can't fathom how could a country like Sweden could resolve these counter-state conditions.



-KM

Sweden is, perhaps ironically, a huge arms dealer, and as a neutral source of weaponry that neither the government nor the opposition would oppose, Stockholm is in a good spot to build up the Lebanese armed forces so that they could defend the country from Israeli incursions.

A strong central state/army is exactly what would give armed actors less of an excuse to keep their weapons.

Sweden? These Scandinavians have been known to be great at brokering agreements, but how on earth could they "build up" the Lebanese state?

I followed you all the way up until here. It's true that Lebanon will have a hard time becoming a truly unified democratic state due to 1.) Consociational parliamentary system, 2.) Supra-state organizations with military means (ie Hizbullah, Israel, and perhaps the US), and 3.) Lack of cooperation between different interest groups, most notably evidenced by the lack of differing votes across religious sectarian lines.

In terms of outside influence, I favor diplomatic over military solutions. Yet, I still can't fathom how could a country like Sweden could resolve these counter-state conditions.



-KM

Sweden is, perhaps ironically, a huge arms dealer, and as a neutral source of weaponry that neither the government nor the opposition would oppose, Stockholm is in a good spot to build up the Lebanese armed forces so that they could defend the country from Israeli incursions.

A strong central state/army is exactly what would give armed actors less of an excuse to keep their weapons.