How bad was 2021 on Lebanon?

Lebanon is a country that is constantly in crisis, but the situation in Lebanon was never so bleak. In 2021, a number of factors were at play that led to the country’s financial collapse. The Beirut port explosion which killed more than 40 people and injured 400 was just the beginning of Lebanon’s struggles. Lebanon faced a series of crises that it hadn’t seen before. The impacts on Lebanese citizens were horrific as they were subject to a fuel crisis, medical crisis, and currency crisis among many other problems. While the Lebanese government struggled to address these issues and find solutions for them and failed, people who had money left fled the country in droves to escape these crises.

The Lebanese population is suffering financially and economically and businesses are not thriving in Lebanon. There are two main additional reasons for this suffering. One of the reasons is the Syrian crisis since Lebanon shares a border with Syria. This has caused an influx of more than one million people who are refugees in Lebanon, which has put a strain on the country’s infrastructure and led to more unemployment. The other main reason is that there has not been any real reform in the past 10 years, which had led to an influx of corruption that had made it hard for Lebanon to thrive.
There are four main things that Lebanon should do to get out of bad times.
1) Lebanon needs to make the 2022 elections accessible for all Lebanese citizens.
2) The role of friends of Lebanon should be revised, either by changing the name or changing the way they operate.
3) Political life in Lebanon needs to be reformed. A new political system should rise, with no sectarianism, no political feudalism, and no corruption.
4) Civil society should play a role in bringing about reform.

Lebanon is going through a tough time. The country has been in 3 wars, struggling to recover from the Syrian refugee crisis. Moreover, sectarianism and financial and economic instability are two main problems that Lebanon has to face.

In order to get out of the bad times, the country needs to introduce real democracy as soon as possible and bring new blood into political life.

Mohammad H Ismail ©