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Lebanese Banking Crisis: The Systemic Workings of a Wreck

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Two and a half years after the outbreak of an unprecedented banking, monetary and debt crisis qualified by the World Bank as one of the worst financial meltdowns since 1850, fears of intermittent or cascading bank failures are high in Lebanon, as the fate of billions of dollars in deposits remains uncertain.
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Lebanese pounds.
Lebanese pounds.
Abdel Mohaymen / Shutterstock
Corps analyses

Currently losing all its legitimacy on the national and international scenes, the political class continues to cling to power without ever reforming the confessional and clientelist system that caused the Lebanese collapse. This meltdown is deeply linked to the political crisis that has been going on for more than two years. Indeed, the confessional power-sharing system has infected the financial sphere over the decades.

Meanwhile, the country still hasn’t reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), while the national currency has lost more than 95 % of its value since the beginning of the crisis in October 2019, causing triple-digit inflation and plunging large parts of the population below the poverty line.
 

This content is available in French: Crise bancaire libanaise : les rouages systémiques d'un naufrage

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ISBN / ISSN

979-10-373-0538-1

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Author(s)
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Süleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul, Türkiye
Turkey/Middle East Program
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Ifri's Turkey/Middle East Program aims to provide expertise on the trends and developments in politics, societies and economies across the region.

The programme has the following objectives:

  • Proposing a new approach towards the MENA region through an analysis of local, regional, and international dynamics with the potential to guide and influence new policies.
  • Highlighting the role of foreign powers which have traditionally been present in the region and analyzing the new role taken on by emerging countries ;
  • Anticipating new directions and outlooks in each country.
  • Interpreting risks and potentials and putting forward new templates for analysis.

The programme has built a dense network of researchers and experts who provide expertise on the MENA region and working together on a range of crosscutting themes.

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Out of Thin Air but More than a Mirage: The Politics of Saudi Arabia's Nascent Music Industry

Date de publication
18 December 2024
Accroche

This study critically examines Saudi Arabia’s nascent music industry, which is promoted as a key element of Vision 2030, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s strategic framework to diversify the kingdom’s economy. It explores how state-led investments in music and entertainment intersect with authoritarian governance. The author neither dismisses these investments as conspicuous spending nor reproduces an alarmist narrative of impending cultural imperialism. The article takes a political sociology approach to understand how Saudi entertainment plans consolidate domestic power and reshape regional cultural landscapes.

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Hostage diplomacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The case of Europeans detained in Iran

Date de publication
13 December 2024
Accroche

The so-called hostage diplomacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran refers to a political and diplomatic strategy in which Tehran uses the detention of Western nationals, dual citizens, or Iranian citizens residing in Europe, Australia, or the United States as leverage in diplomatic negotiations. This practice aims to exert pressure to secure political, economic, or diplomatic concessions as part of Tehran’s asymmetric response strategy. Hostage diplomacy remains a controversial yet effective tool from the perspective of the Islamic Republic of Iran, given its context of economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation.

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Is the Republican People’s Party (CHP) Rising from the Ashes?

Date de publication
24 September 2024
Accroche

The victory of the CHP [Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, Republican People’s Party] in the Turkish municipal elections of March 2024 firmly established it as the leading party of opposition to the Islamic-conservative AKP [Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, Justice and Development Party], which has been in power since 2002. 

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Israel-Palestine: One Solution, Two States

Date de publication
07 June 2024
Accroche

First proposed in 1936, the two-state solution has got lost over the course of several Israeli-Arab wars, colonization, the failure of the Oslo Accords, and the strategies of Israeli governments seeking rapprochement with certain Arab regimes. But it is currently the only imaginable solution. The numerous obstacles in its path could be overcome if the United States and its allies decided to impose it on the Israelis and Palestinians in opposition to their short-term visions.

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Lebanese pounds.
Abdel Mohaymen / Shutterstock

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