Lebanon, A shattered County

Picard, Elizabeth. Lebanon, A Shattered County. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1996. 202 pp.

Elizabeth Picard, a researcher at the Foundation Nationale des Sciences Politiques in Paris has written a historical survey of Lebanon from the midnineteenth century to the present. Lebanon, A Shattered Country, translated from the French, is an unpressive work of erudition and scholarship backed-up by time spent in that troubled land.

This study, however, fails to take into account the Maronite protonational aspect in the nineteenth century civil war. As in the past, the Maronite psychological predisposition for independence and security remains a major factor in the current conflict. More accurately, however, Picard sees the current conflict as a clash between two nationalism: Arab versus Lebanese. These two nationalism are also strongly influenced by sectarianism and, thus, secularism is her solution to Lebanon's problems. In fact, secularism may be the solution to most of the problems of the Middle East. But, this is no revelation!

The Lebanese Kata'ib Party (the Phalangists) called for the complete secularization of the state early in the conflict (1976); and, they called upon Lebanon's leaders of all sects to come forward and sign a secular accord to guarantee the secularization of the state in the future. To date, no one has answered the call. Therefore, Picard's call for: "deconfessionalization of the state and secularization of the society" (p. 165) remains impractical, for the Middle East is experiencing several revolutions in reverse. Nevertheless, her idea has some merit. Without a secular thinking society, a secular, deconfessionalized, state is not viable.

Lebanon, A Shattered County is an interesting and readable work, useful for both scholar and laymen interested in the Lebanese scene.

A.J. Abraham

John Jay College (CUNY)

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