logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2021
17m 27s

Has Lebanon found a lifeline?

Al Jazeera
About this episode

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 own set of geopolitical problems. So could Lebanon finally be turning a corner? Or is optimism still out of sight?

In this episode: 

Kareem Chehayeb (@chehayebk), Lebanon-based reporter 

Connect with The Take: 

Twitter (@AJTheTake), Instagram (@ajthetake) and Facebook (@TheTakePod)

Up next
Yesterday
Is direct action for Palestine 'terrorism'? The UK says it is
The UK has outlawed Palestine Action, grouping it with ISIL and al-Qaeda. Supporters of the group now risk up to 14 years in prison, and arrests of protesters opposed to the listing have already begun. What does the decision reveal about the UK’s approach to protest and civil dis ... Show More
20m 40s
Jul 9
What would happen if coral reefs disappeared?
Coral reefs are dying at a record speed, putting a backbone of global food chains at critical risk. More than 80 percent of coral reefs are now hit by mass bleaching. Reefs feed millions, protect coasts and shape economies. What happens when they vanish – and is the world doing e ... Show More
21m 14s
Jul 8
Netanyahu meets Trump: could a Gaza ceasefire deal emerge?
Could Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s third trip to the United States during President Donald Trump's administration mean a ceasefire in Gaza is close at hand? As Netanyahu lands in Washington, DC, for a week of discussions on topics such as Gaza and Iran, what pressu ... Show More
21m 28s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2022
Lebanon’s silent crisis
For nearly three years, Lebanon has been steadily collapsing under the weight of a financial crisis that is one of the worst in the modern world. But what is life like for those who have to live through the situation on the ground?   To be Lebanese is to navigate a slew of daily ... Show More
20m 27s
Dec 2023
The ‘Ponzi scheme’ behind Lebanon’s economic collapse
For years, Riad Salameh was praised for his revolutionary financial policies as head of Lebanon’s central bank. But suddenly, the country plunged into an economic crisis. And Salameh left the central bank with a disgraced reputation and, investigators believe, a massive personal ... Show More
21m 39s
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
Nov 2018
Episode 28 - Independent Lebanon?
Independent Lebanon begins at 17:08. Happy (almost) Independence Day! It’s been 181 days without a government and this past week hasn’t given us much hope that one will be formed soon. In the twenty-eighth episode of The Lebanese Politics Podcast, Benjamin Redd and Nizar start wi ... Show More
36m 36s
Aug 2021
Is Lebanon a failed state?
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 w ... Show More
22m 15s
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
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
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
May 2022
Will the Lebanese election be a turning point?
People across Lebanon cast their votes last Sunday in an election that was meant to be different.  So much has happened since the last poll, in 2018, when familiar faces were elected from parties largely made up of the same people who had fought the civil war decades earlier.  Fi ... Show More
21m 19s