As Beirut mourns its dead after last week’s explosion, foreign meddling has plunged the entire region into chaos
The huge explosion that destroyed much of central Beirut is a daunting metaphor for the perils facing failing Middle East states.
For years, the region has been described as the world’s most unstable, as a powder-keg primed to detonate at any moment. Last week’s awful tragedy begs a bigger question about how many shocks such fragile, vulnerable countries can absorb before they fracture, crash and blast apart. Is the Middle East as a whole about to explode?
Nearly 10 years after the Arab spring’s hopes of reform were dashed in a storm of violence and counter-revolution, and at a time when regional tensions are again approaching boiling point, a possible watershed nears.
Continue reading…As Beirut mourns its dead after last week’s explosion, foreign meddling has plunged the entire region into chaosThe huge explosion that destroyed much of central Beirut is a daunting metaphor for the perils facing failing Middle East states.For years, the region has been described as the world’s most unstable, as a powder-keg primed to detonate at any moment. Last week’s awful tragedy begs a bigger question about how many shocks such fragile, vulnerable countries can absorb before they fracture, crash and blast apart. Is the Middle East as a whole about to explode?Nearly 10 years after the Arab spring’s hopes of reform were dashed in a storm of violence and counter-revolution, and at a time when regional tensions are again approaching boiling point, a possible watershed nears. Continue reading…