Bread, a staple of the Lebanese diet, is in short supply because the government can’t fund imports of wheat. The economy of Lebanon has collapsed,” said Fawaz Gerges, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics. The sectarian tensions that fueled the civil war are rising, too, as the country’s political leaders, along with their followers, trade blame for the crisis. The elites were enriched at the expense of the poor, and the foundations of the current collapse were laid. “This isn’t your average small-country collapse,” said Mike Azar, a Beirut-based financial analyst.

Source: Washington Post July 19, 2020 21:21 UTC