The Watch Post

22/11/2021

A Nation for a Map or vice versa?

On September 1, 1920, General Henri Gouraud, the newly appointed French governor of Lebanon under the sanctioned mandate of the League of Nations, declared the birth of Greater Lebanon. This declaration was not fully welcomed at the time and still today it is disputed by many elitists and populists,...

11/11/2021

The Beirut Plot Thickens…….

The investigation into the Beirut Port Blast of August 4th, 2020, has come to a grinding halt through a judicial imbroglio which has, in all but words, rendered the process nugatory. The investigating judge, Tariq Bitar, is reportedly dedicated to his job, a person with integrity, and unproven polit...

01/11/2021

To Bond or Not to Bond….

The most recent James Bond is disappointing. Here you have it, from the outset, the verdict has been rendered. The opinions will be divided, the critics will be debating, the viewers will be judging, and the curtain will fall -with a whimper not a bang- on the Bond legacy. This time our secret agent...

20/10/2021

A Presidential Battle not a Civil War…

What happened in the streets of Beirut on October 14, right on the demarcation line of the past civil war, was not caused by sectarianism or ideological differences between Shia-Islamist’s militants and Christian-right wingers. What took place was a distractive maneuver led by Hezbollah et al, to ...

28/09/2021

The Hell with Civil Society

The Beirut Port blast of August 4, 2020 was one of the largest explosions in a non-war zone since World War II. Whether it had a Nuclear-like effect, or a Nitrate substance, or some other technical aspect or dimension is of little importance. What is, remains the fact that hundreds were killed, thou...

21/09/2021

Wagner Wins

In August 2018 news surfaced about the killing in the Central African Republic of three Russian journalists who were carrying an investigation into the activities of the secretive paramilitary Wagner group. The Washington Post described the group at the time as a “shadowy Russian mercenary organiz...

18/09/2021

Macron’s Middle East Forays

French post-colonial policies in the Middle East have been, for a long time, spillovers from General de Gaulle’s legacy. The achievements of de Gaulle are well chronicled in the Arab annals. They include, among others, the exit from Algeria despite 132 years of occupation and the anger of 900,000 ...

09/09/2021

The New-Old Version of the Great Game

The “Great Game” was the byname given to the 19th century confrontation between the British and Russian empires over Afghanistan and the contiguous territories in Central and South Asia. War, diplomacy, tribal politics, spying, and sabotage were the norm that governed rapports between protagonis...

05/09/2021

The politically convenient and the price of chaos

The exponential growth in locally generated and globally circulating data has created a policy chaos and caused systemic gridlocks and sudden-shocks failures. From the Covid-19 pandemic management and, the accompanying whatever-it-takes policies, to the Afghanistan rushed exit debacle, to handling e...

23/08/2021

The Emperor is Naked

In an article that appeared in this platform on June 28, 2021, we considered the potential (unbecoming) exit of the US from Afghanistan and the security vacuum that could be filled by the EU, Russia and/or China. Such predictions were proven right by the self-inflicted defeat that the Biden administ...

12/08/2021

PSG: A Satisfied Trophy Wife

In football, there are only two clubs that have been spoiled filthy rotten by their oil baron owners. But only one happens to play in the most romantic city in the world. Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) have said “ou la la” to all their Qatari owner’s lavish presents. They’ve embraced the musk-sce...

04/08/2021

The Man who outdid Pétain

In the chronicles of military history, great generals have either died on battlefields or survived and entered the Pantheon of politics. At the time of the ancient Greek city-states King Leonidas of Sparta died at the Battle of Thermopylae. Four Roman emperors died on the battlefield —Gordian II (...

19/07/2021

The Power of Mediocrity

Saad Al Hariri will go down in history as the most mediocre, inept and unworthy PM of Lebanon, including the world-record failure of a PM aka Hassan Diab, the current head of the care-taking government.Whether this verdict on Saad Al Hariri is too harsh, will be elucidated through our quick and fact...

16/07/2021

The Olympic Games: An Escape from Reality

The summer Olympics represents a period in the sport’s calendar where it demands the attention of the world. After all, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) carries out a remarkable marketing and public relations campaign making sure that their competition has all or nothing implications. Thi...

14/07/2021

Wall Street is no Vogue Street.

Blue chip companies are no more those that seek profits and maximization of shareholders’ value. These objectives are insufficient to please the growing crowd of politically correct analysts and other pink-shaded observers of Wall Street. Nothing would satisfy them more than having the perfect cor...

06/07/2021

The Casting Game

If we could allocate alternative jobs to some politicians, do you think they’d fare better than when running the affairs of their own nations? Some have a knack for certain professions, while others seem less endowed with innate talents and should seek alternative careers. Let us discover them tog...

04/07/2021

Roots of federalism

Des légions romaines au Liban fédéral, un essai aux racines du fédéralisme par Iyad Boustany 2 juillet 2021Pour comprendre le fédéralisme, il faut comprendre les concepts sous-jacents, et plus encore, dans quelle mesure ces concepts épousent la réalité sociale du Liban. La subsidiarité, l...

27/06/2021

A Shopping Spree for Defense Partners

The Sherriff is getting the hell out of Dodge City. Indeed, the Biden administration is on its way out from the Middle and Near East. Not with the same humiliation as from Vietnam, but almost with same haste. Kabul will soon be taken over by the Taliban, to return to the stone age. The Turks might b...

26/06/2021

Federalism’s Fake Promise

As is always the case at dire political moments, calls for adopting federalism have returned to Lebanon with a vengeance. Of course, federalism is not an uncommon political option across the globe. At heart, it is about the actual physical or geographic distribution of authority across the territory...

25/06/2021

Roger Federer’s Garden

In Roger Federer’s British garden, there’s a sense you’re standing on sacred ground. A place that feels special. There’s a tingling sensation which courses through your body. It’s the sensory realization that you’re taking in the magnificent splendor of the most decorated singles champio...

24/06/2021

The Burden of Emerging Greener

The World Bank (Europe & Central Asia – Chief Economist Office) is organising next week a video conference under the theme: Building a Greener Recovery: Implications for Emerging and Developing Economies. This is an important event given current implications on the developing economies, particular...

13/06/2021

The Confederate Republic of Lebanon

Nature: confederate, indivisible, with Beirut as its Confederal capital and the regions of Mount Lebanon, North, South, Beqaa, Hermel, Baalbek, etc., forming separate 20 something Cantons of the Confederal State. Each Canton (or Caza) would have an economic city town and an administrative one or a c...

08/06/2021

Copa America 2021 Must Be Cancelled

The organizers of the Copa America 2021 tournament, CONMEBOL, are in the prime position to do the right thing by postponing or even canceling this year’s competition. All they have to do is read and accept the signs. The first and most obvious is that there still exists a COVID-19 pandemic. The se...

02/06/2021

Time to have a United GCC market

If all the currencies of the GCC are pegged to the US Dollar and to oil prices, what stops the bloc from having the same Riyal or Dirham or whatever common currency as a unitary means of exchange of goods and services? If all the countries of the GCC adopt a rather comparable policy towards personal...

20/05/2021

Time to Clean Up Iran’s Balance Sheet

We have not seen any popular demonstrations in the streets of Cairo or Baghdad let alone Saudi and the UAE in support of Hamas. Support remains strong for the Palestinians across the board especially, for those who claim their legitimate rights through civilian means. Albeit, with stones and rocks a...

08/05/2021

The recent diplomatic activity in the Middle East is dizzying. Round-the-clock meetings are being held between arch enemies, close allies and a host of unclassified others who are congregating at a breakneck pace. The cast includes official State representatives as well as covert emissaries. Still,....

05/05/2021

The Quirks of Frequent Air Travel

Air travel in the pre-Covid-19 era was never a picknick. Since the pandemic befell our planet, it has become even more of an irritant. We now add to the list of the usual unpleasantries the mandatory PCR tests at the departure and arrival points, the wearing of masks while airborne, the limits on on...

28/04/2021

Pirates of the Mediterranean

A famous quote by Captain Jack Sparrow from the movie saga ‘Pirates of Caribbean’s’ goes like this: “I’m dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly, it’s the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they’re going to do...

24/04/2021

Football Awakenings from The Super League Fallout

The identity of European football was thrusted under the spotlight. To be prodded by ethical experts, to be analyzed by gatekeepers of morality and has raised all sorts of questions but mainly, and this is my favorite one, “what’s going on?” For the non-sports enthusiast, the justified social ...

22/04/2021

Film in Review: Madame Claude (2021)

A Netflix Original has been recently released about the trials and tribulations of Fernande Grudet, better known, as Madame Claude the headmistress of a high-end prostitution network in France from the early 60s till the late 80s. The main character, Madame Claude is played by the very talented Karo...

19/04/2021

In order to preserve the unity of Lebanon, let us federate its system.!

Lately, there has been a lot of talk about the federal political system as a possible solution to replace the Constitution of the “Second Republic” (Taif Accord), which has become a burden on all of Lebanon's constituent groups or communities. The injustice felt by the Muslim communities, which ...

18/04/2021

Does Targeting Corruption Innocent the Occupation?

The circus caused in the B series like raid orchestrated by an all but hysterical Mount Lebanon prosecutor judge Ms. Ghada Aoun, has highlighted to all Lebanese the extent of institutional damage in what has become the unravelling of a nation. The best description of the current state of things in L...

18/04/2021

UEFA Missed the Trick

The European football governing body, UEFA, has announced plans to launch a third European competition. The UEFA Conference League, as it’s so drably called, is scheduled for the 2021-22 season. Their idea behind the competition was to give more access to clubs from nations who rarely feature in t...

14/04/2021

Iran has been stirring the cauldron of the Middle East to get back and fast, to the nuclear deal with the US and the European nations in Vienna. The latest attack by Israel on the Natanz nuclear facility comes on the heels of several attempts by Iran to destabilize the region and call for the attent...

14/04/2021

April 13 ……A Date of Special Meaning

On the 13th of April 1635 Fakhreddin II Maan, the Druze Prince of Mount Lebanon, or Druze Mountain as it was called at the time, was decapitated in Istanbul, Turkey on charges of sedition against the Sublime Porte. As the ritual went, he was forced to kneel, and his blouse stripped open. At such mom...

07/04/2021

So, calling a Covid-19 British or South African or Brazilian variant is OK, but calling it a Chinese Virus would be considered a racist statement?! Are the Brits, South Africans and Brazilians free for abuse by racial slurs, whereby the Chinese are off limits? Who decreed such ruling, the Almighty C...

05/04/2021

Lettre ouverte au Président Macron.

Monsieur le Président de la République, Nous avons célébré avec vous le centenaire du Grand Liban, alors que les décombres de Beyrouth étaient entassés sur les bords des rues Gouraud et Pasteur. Cette semaine le Liban des Citoyens célèbre avec tristesse une année de souffrance, combat in....

05/04/2021

There is a tendency among Lebanese to always assume that the world cares only about them. World leaders cannot start their day before checking what has happened in Lebanon. Every conflict or political crisis in the past two decades has been explained by reference to some grand regional or internatio...

31/03/2021

Listing Aramco and De-listing the Houthis…a Middle Eastern Tale

Worthy Talk Listing Aramco and De-listing the Houthis…a Middle Eastern Tale By Samuel Carter Hall March 29, 2021 0 23 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp The government of Saudi Arabia decided in 2019 to list Aramco, the country’s crown jewel, and one of the largest conglomerates in the wo...

31/03/2021

Government in Exile vs. Shadow Government

Worthy Talk Government in Exile vs. Shadow Government By Minecroft March 18, 2021 0 44 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp  Many have been clamoring for the establishment of a Government in Exile outside Lebanon, due to the fact that any free and relevant work to extract Lebanon from its curr...