Communitarian Nation-State Paradox in Lebanon

Since the foundation of the modern consociational state of Lebanon, the country’s multi-communitarian diversity has contested the distribution of state power and its national identity. Recurring stormy struggles yielded protracted instabilities. Alternatives to power-sharing have, however, awakened fears of repressive unitarian nationalism. This book re-examines the viability of the Lebanese power-sharing arrangement in preserving plurality and providing a common vision for nationhood. Thirteen Lebanese academic scholars offer different views in addressing the paradox of building a nation-state in a multi-communitarian society.