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Crushed Ballot: Ending the Suppression of Lebanon’s Municipalities
Municipalities’ Can Reshape Development And Service Provision In Lebanon, If Freed To Represent Their Communities.

Public Disservice: Reforming Lebanon’s Regressive State Institutions
How politicians corrupted the civil service, and why now is the time for change.

Undermining Democracy: Lebanon’s Cabinet Violates Constitution To Protect Banking Elite
Lebanon’s cabinet violates constitution to protect banking elite.

Sign of the Times: The information that Tripolitans need to survive
Since the beginning of Lebanon’s financial collapse in 2019, access to information has become more critical than ever.

Red Tape: Syrian and Palestinian Doctors Blocked from Easing Lebanon’s Health Crisis
Displaced doctors could provide relief amid health worker shortages

‘They’ Have Names
The Lebanese have known since at least the 1960s that the banks run the country, but we have known this in the abstract. We have used the vague pronoun hineh, ‘them’, to describe these de factor rulers. But Lebanon is not ‘theirs’ and ‘they’ have a name, a face, bank accounts, and registered...

Cross Contamination: The Banking Interests Plaguing Public Office in Lebanon
Lebanon’s banks played a central role in driving the country into the financial catastrophe it has endured since 2019, and yet to date they have avoided legal sanction, regulatory reform, and efforts to have them bear their fair share of the financial burden. Where, one might ask, are the...

Spoiled Ballot: Elections Uncertain as Municipalities’ Mandates Set to End
Why Lebanon needs to hold local polls in May.

Shadow Trade: Smuggling’s Winners, Losers & Enduring Dynamics
Why illegal cross-border commerce is so hard to stop.

New EDL Tariffs: A Step Towards the Light or a Shot in the Dark?
Lebanon’s residents likely to keep paying for the chronic mismanagement of EDL.

Washed Away: Don’t (Just) Blame the Rain
Decades of poor urban planning and waste mismanagement catalysts for flash flooding in Lebanon.

Broken Bread: Lebanon’s Half-Baked Wheat Subsidy
Recent $150 million World Bank loan another step into the debt abyss without long-term food security strategy.

Rock Bottom: The Tax Reforms Lebanon Has to Have
The government’s inequitable revenue structures can no longer afford to keep burdening the poor while giving a free pass to those with the means to pay their share of taxes.

Uphill Battle: Lebanon’s Cholera Fight Not Over
Cholera likely to stay without serious reforms to Lebanese water sector

Trick Not Treat: Lebanon’s banking secrecy law is more appearance than substance
Lebanon amends banking secrecy law to appease the IMF but leaves loopholes to protect politico-banking elite.

Short Circuits: Why Lebanon’s electricity sector is still broken
Infrastructure, political, and legal barriers to reforming Lebanon’s broken electricity sector.

Lebanon Bank Holdups, Who Is The Real Criminal?
Lebanon’s bank hold ups are the result of lawlessness created by banks, not desperate depositors.

The Perfect Storm: Lebanon and European Countries Collude to Put Migrants at Risk
As the Lebanese political establishment tries to shift blame for sea migrant deaths, EU pushbacks, blockades, and backroom deals place migrants in greater danger

No More Fun and Games: Saving Lebanon’s Education System Before it’s Too Late
A complete rethink of Lebanon’s education sector could turn crisis into opportunity

Eternal Compromise: The Ambiguities of UNIFIL in Lebanon
Peacekeeping mission reading between the lines to keep the peace

Lebanon’s water system is collapsing. A vital ally is needed.
The ongoing financial crisis is eroding the capacity for Lebanon’s most essential services to operate, risking new depths in the humanitarian crisis.

Constitutional Mayhem: No Government, No President
Lebanon is poised for executive-level disarray ahead of a presidential vacuum and caretaker cabinet.

Smoke And Mirrors: All that glitters is not (yet) gold with subsidized housing loan
Millions promised in housing funding would leave most vulnerable behind

Sex For The Few: The privileged economy of sex in Lebanon
How economics, state and sectarian forces keep sexual freedom out of reach for most Lebanese.

Bogus Budget: Lebanon’s 2022 budget punishes the poor to protect the rich
By kicking the can down the road on comprehensive reform, the 2022 budget is just another power grab by the establishment.

Comic Book Court: Lebanon’s Supreme Council is a well-practiced exercise in futility
Legal loopholes and self-interested gatekeepers will likely prevent justice from running its course

The Scramble For Solar: Safety and environmental concerns loom over renewable energy
Lack of regulation and proper disposal cast shade over Lebanon’s solar prospects

High-Stake Blaming: Lebanon scapegoating Syrian refugees for economic crisis
Tensions rise as Lebanon hypes non-existent “plan” to return 15,000 Syrians per month

Crumbling Hopes For Justice: As Beirut’s silos fall the international community stands still
Accountability For The Beirut Blast Is A Necessary Step Towards Closing Lebanon’s Open Wounds

Faulty Foundations: Bedrock issues with Lebanon’s housing
Lebanese are being forced to live at risk in the name of private property

Morally Bankrupt: The legal solution to the banking crisis no one Is talking about
Lebanese banks are avoiding the legal implications of declaring bankruptcy.

Ignore the Mirage: Oil and gas will not save Lebanon
News of expected windfall revenues from Lebanon’s potential offshore gas fields require contain many hidden caveats.

The Great Sell-Off: How Lebanon’s banking sector sold off the country’s financial future to foreign interests
An investigation by Badil reveals previously unknown details of Lebanon’s Eurobond default and how the banking sector manipulated it to facilitate billions of dollars in foreign transfers.

The First 100 Days: A plan of action for Lebanon’s opposition MP’s first months in office
As a minority, opposition MPs must take a strategic approach to cement their legitimacy and start to make real change in the country.

Open Secret: Lebanon moves to replace archaic banking secrecy, at first glance
While a step in the right direction, Lebanon’s draft banking secrecy law remains riddled with loopholes and avenues for abuse of power.

It’s a Trap: Don’t vote blank
How blank votes help the traditional political class win seats

Battle Lines: Ten economic principles for Lebanon’s progressive opposition
Regardless of the election results, the progressive opposition movement needs to follow a clear set of economic principles to take to the people, and the IMF.

Path Dependence: Why voters turn to traditional parties over independents In Lebanon’s election
A new nationally representative study on voter intentions reveals hope for independents, while showing traditional parties maintain their voter base through tradition, identity politics, and political clientelism.

Getting Serious: Could EU sanctions force fair elections in Lebanon?
The European Union has positioned itself as lead guarantor for Lebanon’s parliamentary elections, with sanctions and observers in place. But history suggests that dirty electoral tricks will go unpunished.

Double-Dealing: Financial elites loom over Lebanon’s proposed capital controls
These informal capital controls – which have no basis in law – facilitate rampant discrimination between well-connected elites and most other depositors.

Vague Intentions: IMF ‘deal’ skirts accountability for Lebanon’s elites
Without details, the IMF’s conditional staff-level agreement does more to entrench political and banking elites than to resolve Lebanon’s financial disaster.

Business As Usual: Long-standing corruption threatens Beirut’s port reconstruction
The ten-year contract to operate the Beirut Port’s container terminal looks to be just the beginning of collective erasure and return to the status quo.

Excuses, Excuses: Lebanon’s political class looking for a reason to postpone elections
Elections in Lebanon are currently set for 15 May, but throughout March the ruling political class has alluded to conditions that would buy them time to avoid holding the elections as scheduled.

Market Incorrection: New Competition Law Allows Status Quo to Continue
The law, which civil society groups and the international community have demanded for decades, purports to liberate Lebanon’s private sector from control by politically connected cartels.

End Of The Line: Day of reckoning must loom over Lebanon’s elites
As long as the global food and energy crisis continues, Lebanese households – which rely overwhelmingly on imported products – will start skipping meals, eating less, losing nutrients, and falling ill.

Stuck In Resilience: Mental health in Lebanon
As mental health problems spike due to the economic crisis, the Beirut Port explosion, and the COVID-19 pandemic – to name but a few – psychiatrists and psychologists are leaving Lebanon in record numbers.

Stillborn: Lebanon’s public transport announcement dead on arrival
Since 1985, the Lebanese government has made at least 13 such announcements, plans, proposals and / or studies about new public transport projects – an average of one every 2.4 years.

Nowhere To Heal: The growing luxury of medical cover in Lebanon
Broadening private insurance ahead of universal health care.

Russian Roulette: Ukraine exposes Lebanon’s dangerous food security game
The Ukrainian crisis is merely the latest alarming threat to Lebanese food security in recent years. It follows on the heels of the country’s economic crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Beirut Port explosion – a series of unambiguous warning shots.

Bucketing Down: A Principled Bail-In for Lebanon’s Overflowing Debts
How banking regulations can fairly allocate losses and avert future crises.

Fuelling Addiction: How Importers And Politicians Keep Lebanon Hooked On Oil
Eliminating National Oil Dependence Will Clear Out Conflicts Of Interest.

Force For Funds: Saving Lebanon’s Army From Financial Collapse
Only a Modern, Neutral and Sustainable LAF Can Survive the Economic Crisis.

Risky Business: How Syndicates Exposed Pensions To Lebanon’s Banking Crisis
The Urgent Need To Salvage And Reform Workers’ Retirement Schemes.

Plummet or Prosper: The Risks and Potential of Lebanon’s Productive Economy
How Farms and Factories Can Make or Break Lebanon’s Future.

Wake-Up Call: Economic Crisis Needs To Force Lebanon Towards A Green Recovery
Salvation From Accumulated Crises Can Only Be Through Sustainable Consumption And Production.

See You In Court: Foreign Legal Pressure Can Corner Lebanon’s Banking Elites
Pathways For Lebanese Depositors To Force Bankers Towards A Fair Deal.

Power to The People: It’s Time for Renewable Energy to Transform Electricity In Lebanon
Lebanese authorities’ persistent failure to meet the country’s energy needs has been a central symbol of state corruption and mismanagement.

Divided We Fall: Bringing Together Lebanon’s Opposition Movement
As Lebanon approaches another round of parliamentary elections opposition parties face old threats and new opportunities.

Carrots And Sticks: How Sanctions and Principled Aid Can Bring Lebanon’s Politicians to The Table
Sanctions And Principled Aid Can Pull Lebanon Back From The Abyss – But Only By Targeting The Banking Sector And Carefully Monitoring The State’s Role In Aid Distribution.

Breaking Point: The Collapse of Lebanon’s Water Sector
How Misplaced Aid, Elite Capture, And A Devalued Currency Are Causing Crisis In The Water Sector.