The ceasefire between Washington and Tehran, hailed as a diplomatic masterstroke, has left Lebanon in a state of suspended animation. The agreement, which exchanges Iranian nuclear concessions for the lifting of certain sanctions, has done little to address the deeper rot within the Levant. British aid agencies now brace for a humanitarian spillover, as if the region's chronic instability could be cauterised by a mere piece of paper.
One is reminded of the Congress of Vienna's aftermath, where the great powers redrew maps while the common folk bled. The true test lies not in the treaty's ink but in the wreckage of Beirut's port and the hollowed-out state apparatus. The Pax Americana has failed, and this new compact smells of a desperate gamble.
Lebanon remains a corpse propped up by foreign transfusions, and until its leaders face the mirror, any respite is but a prelude to the next collapse.
