Mount Hermon: What’s Next for Lebanon’s Newest Nature Reserve
Lebanon’s identity resides largely in the uniqueness of its geographical location and the diversity of its landscapes. From the thin coastal plain to the summits of Mount Lebanon, from the Bekaa plateau to the Anti-Lebanon mountain chain, this strong sequencing of landscapes is exceptional for such a small country. Its geography is part of the […]
A Call for Active Citizen Lobbying in Lebanon’s Electricity Sector
EDL Power Rationing and the Parallel Network of Micro Monopolies The Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) was a major turning point which presented severe consequences on the local electricity infrastructure. During the war, EDL was unable to keep up with the rapid urban and demographic redistribution caused by the conflict and failed to adapt its network […]
The Economic and Financial Collapse of the Once-Called “Paris of the Middle East”
Lebanon is facing a multi-faceted crisis and many geopolitical challenges. The fiscal deficit, balance of payment deficit, unsustainable public debt, currency collapse, and historic financial sector crisis are but a few of the main factors plunging the country into an economic depression. This is, disastrously, driving poverty to reach more than 50 percent of the […]
A City Draped in White
Saints are quiet in their mountaintops, Trees are hardened ash, Buildings have lost their colors, Shrapnel rests in the garden, Flags remain hoisted high, on steel poles made of bullets that struck down martyrs. Droplets of debris, Falling out of the hands of charity, Have silenced the streets. Friends have lost papers Friends are looking […]
Mental Health Crisis on the Rise: A Pandemic of a Different Kind
Editor’s note: Your mental health is important; do not ignore it. We urge you to seek help or talk to someone. If you are suffering from mental health issues or are having suicidal thoughts, please seek assistance immediately and reach out to the national suicide hotline in your country of residence. Know that you are […]
Anghami’s Meteoric Rise: A Chat with Co-Founders Eddy Maroun and Elie Habib
From their earliest founding days in 2012, to their recent merger and New York Stock Exchange listing, Eddy Maroun and Elie Habib continue to oversee a modern-day Lebanese success story. Their company, the widely-recognized Anghami, is the first legitimate content streaming platform in the Middle-East and North Africa (MENA) and has risen to host more […]
What The Tech is Going On with Lebanese Startups?
Technology has evolved from a mere tool or product that performs a certain task to a service that is reshaping the way we communicate, work, and live. Leading companies on the global stage continue to make this increasingly evident. DeepMind, an organization within Google that focuses on Artificial Intelligence (AI), developed the AlphaGo deep learning […]
Engage, Embrace, Empathize: Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy in Lebanon
In between conversations of failing economies and flailing politicians, the COVID-19 crisis continues to be one of the most critical threats to the welfare of the Lebanese people. While persistently high infection rates and inconsistent lockdowns are unprecedented, the topic of vaccination seems to highlight familiar systemic inequalities of which many remain wary. Experts […]
Dear Nostalgia: Adra Kandil’s Visual Letters to a Place That Never Was
Embodying a hybrid world of alternate realities, Lebanese visual artist, Adra Kandil (aka “Dear Nostalgia” online), uses photography, collages, typography, and digital montages to blend modern-day truths with the romanticism of collective nostalgia. As a post-war child with a desire to experience Lebanon’s ”Golden Age”, the multi-disciplinarian draws on personal storylines and relevant cultural references to blur […]
Displaced Syrian Communities in Lebanon : A Crisis Within a Crisis
Author’s note : It goes without saying that Lebanon and all of the people living on its territory are facing the hardest of times. They are at odds with a three- headed monster — the COVID-19 pandemic, the increasing failure of the political class, and a financial crisis which has devalued the Lebanese pound to never-before-seen […]