正视外国影响：外来者如何帮助制造黎巴嫩当前的危机

FACING UP TO FOREIGNINFLUENCE:HOW OUTSIDERSHELPED CREATE LEBANONSCURRENT CRISISNICHOLAS NOEDECEMBER 1,2021COMMENTARYFrances president is shocked,shocked that gambling has been going on in Lebanon.After describing thecountrys devastating financial meltdown as the result of an outright“Ponzi scheme,”EmmanuelMacron condemned Lebanons ruling class for using their ties to foreign banks to transfer funds abroad while ordinaryLebanese citizens were unable to access deposits.Of course,he might have asked why exactly French banks,amongothers,allowed Lebanons elite to do so.During Lebanons civil war a conflict lasting from 1975 to 1990 that killed upward of 150,000 people and displacedmore than 1.5 million pundits and scholars often asked such questions.They regularly attributed the countrysproblems to the negative influence of foreign powers which moved money and weapons for their local allies.Recently,