Now The Hard Part

The Doha agreement diffuses the current crisis and everyone will immediately feel the benefits. But the real issues remain to be solved.

Dismantling the scar (photo credit: Reuters)

Nothing beats the sense of relief the Lebanese are feeling today except perhaps the realization that they will be able to celebrate in the heart of the now-liberated Beirut. Still, after the fireworks subside and the champagne corks are swept aside by the happily re-employed Solidere waiters, the Lebanese will return to earth and realize that the Doha agreement is just a temporary solution that only marginally addresses the major contentious issues.

The main issue at stake is the relationship between the Lebanese state and a powerful armed faction within that state. The Lebanese power sharing agreement should be looked at as a form of cease fire between Syria and Iran on one side and the rest of the world on the other. The civil war that was about to break looked like a major distraction that the power brokers decided to quench with a dose of feel-good compromise and a president on top.

Many minefields still lie ahead this small country’s future, not least the specter of a war between Israel and Iran that Hezbollah will feel compelled to join and drag the country with them. But for now, most Lebanese are in the mood for celebration; the make-up summer season ahead promises to be one heck of a party!