Dr. Jamil Mouawad, lecturer in the Political Studies and Public Administration Dept at AUB, has studied Lebanese politics for decades; he is publishing a new book on the nature of the state in Lebanon and how its citizens interact with the state. He explains his theory of Lebanon as a deliberately weakened and cannibalized state whose political elite governs through "shadow" institutions. Yet, he feels Lebanese citizens still yearn and work for a state that delivers its promise, and sees this as a moment to reconstruct the state in a way that allows it to serve all its citizens.