logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2021
22m 15s

Is Lebanon a failed state?

Financial Times
About this episode

Gideon Rachman talks to Chloe Cornish, the FT’s Middle East correspondent, on how decades of misgovernance have led to Lebanon’s current political, economic and social crisis. Chloe recounts how the year since the explosion in Beirut, the country’s capital city, has been one of worsening struggle for the Lebanese people.


Chloe’s piece, Lebanon’s year from hell: a diary, can be read here


Clips: AP Archive, Reagan Library



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Aug 21
Trump ‘plays into Putin’s hands’
Gideon discusses the outcome of the recent Alaska and Washington summits with Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. Has Russia emerged as a clear winner? What can be achieved without more pressure on Vladimir Putin? How effective would western security ... Show More
22m 46s
Aug 14
What next for India as Trump-Modi friendship sours?
The Trump administration has hit India with 50% tariffs. And just after a short military conflict between India and Pakistan, President Trump played host to Pakistan’s army chief of staff at the White House. Gideon discusses what this means for India and for the region with Tanvi ... Show More
22m 37s
Aug 7
The cold war guru whose warnings on Russia still stand
Zbigniew Brzeziński was one of the most influential statesmen of the cold war. But many of the geopolitical problems he wrestled with in Russia, China and the Middle East, have returned with a vengeance. Among his many prescient ideas, ‘Zbig’ as he was known, predicted that Ameri ... Show More
29m 42s
Recommended Episodes
Jun 2023
How Lebanon’s economy collapsed
Protests, power cuts and bank hold-ups – Lebanon was already struggling before the 2020 port explosion that devasted its capital, Beirut, but now it’s in a desperate economic collapse. The Lebanese people are struggling to buy basic food and medicine. And the country also hosts t ... Show More
18m 56s
Sep 2021
Has Lebanon found a lifeline?
Lebanon has had a few bright spots of news in its long running economic collapse. On Monday, a new government was confirmed for the first time in 13 months, and fuel is coming in to fill a dire need for electricity. But it was brought from Iran by Hezbollah, which could pose its ... Show More
17m 27s
Nov 2021
Lebanon: Anatomy of a failed state
Lebanon is in economic crisis with shortages of food, medicine and electricity on the ground. Today, how did the country, whose capital was once described as the Paris of the Middle East, get here? And is there hope for the future?This podcast was brought to you thanks to the sup ... Show More
30m 27s
Aug 2021
A year after the blast, Lebanon fights for its future
What is left in Lebanon, after 12 months of almost indescribable crisis, is the fight to hold someone – anyone – accountable. There has been a yearlong fight to do just that, but with the economic freefall only getting worse, the paralysis seems to be deepening. Lebanon is no str ... Show More
21m 37s
Aug 2020
What’s gone wrong in Lebanon?
The massive explosion that tore through Beirut on August 4th left more than 200 people dead, 6,000 injured, and as many as 300,000 homeless. The explosion was caused by a fire that ignited 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored at the port. When the blast hit, Lebanon was already ... Show More
23m 56s
Aug 2020
Raoul Nehme: Can Lebanon be saved from collapse?
After the unimaginable horror of the mega blast which devastated Beirut the people of Lebanon are now forced to live with a zombie government - dead in all but name, not yet replaced. Stephen Sackur speaks to Raoul Nehme, still Lebanon's Minister of Economy and Trade until a new ... Show More
22m 58s
Sep 2021
Lebanon in dire need
The new Lebanese government has been in place for a week, but with the economy still spiraling, Lebanese people lack confidence anything will be done in the short term to relieve the extreme economic crisis. Mohamed El Aassar, Middle East journalist with Fortune Magazine, tells t ... Show More
17m 28s
Nov 2021
CLM S5#11 – Karim Émile Bitar – "Liban : jusqu'où la descente aux enfers ?"
Le Liban est confronté à une crise sans précédent. Secoué en 2019 par des mouvements de contestation, le pays est resté sans gouvernement pendant plus d’un an. La situation financière libanaise, quant à elle, ne cesse de se dégrader depuis l’été 2019 avec, entre autres, une infla ... Show More
25m 53s