Joelle M. Abi-Rached is Associate Professor of Medicine and Founding Director of the Program on Medical History, Ethics & Politics at the American University of Beirut. She is the author of ʿAṣfūriyyeh: A History of Madness, Modernity, and War in the Middle East, and the co-author of Neuro: The New Brain Sciences and the Management of the Mind. Sarah El-Richani is Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Media and Communication Studies at Freie Universität Berlin. She is the author of The Lebanese Media: Anatomy of a System in Perpetual Crisis.

‘An ambitious, analytically sharp and morally urgent volume that seeks to document, dissect and theorise Lebanon’s multifaceted collapse since 2019. An empirically grounded and conceptually rich account.’

• Introduction.  “Why and How Nations Collapse” by Joelle M. Abi-Rached and Sarah El-Richani  Chapter 1. “Kicking-the-Can Economics: How a Regime that Failed on the Economy Survived Politically” by Ishac Diwan   Chapter 2. “Poverty Alleviation after the Meltdown: Can Microfinance Still Deliver?” by Youssef Fawaz   Chapter 3. “’Rentier Universe:’ The Geopolitics of Lebanon’s Collapse” by Mohanad Hage Ali   Chapter 4. “Syria in Lebanon: From Military Occupation and Political Hegemony to the Challenges of a Turbulent Neighborhood” by Ziad Majed  Chapter 5. “The Semiotics of Collapse: Reclaiming Urban Space for the Public Good in Beirut” by Sandra Rishani and Roula El-Khoury   Chapter 6. “The Human Cost of Misgovernance: Lebanon’s Healthcare Collapse and Dramatic Loss of Lives” by Joelle M. Abi-Rached   Chapter 7. “Reimagining Education in Post-Crisis Lebanon: School Principals in the Driver’s Seat” by Nadim Matta and Haneen Sayed   Chapter 8. “Bad News from Lebanon: The Unraveling of the Media Landscape” by Sarah El-Richani  Chapter 9. “Rising from the Ashes: Art, State, and Corporate Capital in Lebanon (bis repetita)” by Marie-Nour Hechaime   Chapter 10. “Justice Without Judiciary? The Brutal Demise of a Prestigious Professional Body” by Samer Ghamroun   Chapter 11. “Political Anatomy of Civil Society Activism under Collapse: Between Embodiment and Abandonment” by Carmen Geha   Chapter 12. “Politics of Suffocation: Man-Made Environmental Deterioration in Lebanon” by Najat Saliba, Rashad Rafeh, and Carmen Geha   Epilogue by Joelle M. Abi-Rached and Sarah El-Richani

Joelle M. Abi-Rached is Associate Professor of Medicine and Founding Director of the Program on Medical History, Ethics & Politics at the American University of Beirut. She is the author of ʿAṣfūriyyeh: A History of Madness, Modernity, and War in the Middle East, and the co-author of Neuro: The New Brain Sciences and the Management of the Mind. Sarah El-Richani is Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Media and Communication Studies at Freie Universität Berlin. She is the author of The Lebanese Media: Anatomy of a System in Perpetual Crisis.

‘An ambitious, analytically sharp and morally urgent volume that seeks to document, dissect and theorise Lebanon’s multifaceted collapse since 2019. An empirically grounded and conceptually rich account.’

• Introduction.  “Why and How Nations Collapse” by Joelle M. Abi-Rached and Sarah El-Richani  Chapter 1. “Kicking-the-Can Economics: How a Regime that Failed on the Economy Survived Politically” by Ishac Diwan   Chapter 2. “Poverty Alleviation after the Meltdown: Can Microfinance Still Deliver?” by Youssef Fawaz   Chapter 3. “’Rentier Universe:’ The Geopolitics of Lebanon’s Collapse” by Mohanad Hage Ali   Chapter 4. “Syria in Lebanon: From Military Occupation and Political Hegemony to the Challenges of a Turbulent Neighborhood” by Ziad Majed  Chapter 5. “The Semiotics of Collapse: Reclaiming Urban Space for the Public Good in Beirut” by Sandra Rishani and Roula El-Khoury   Chapter 6. “The Human Cost of Misgovernance: Lebanon’s Healthcare Collapse and Dramatic Loss of Lives” by Joelle M. Abi-Rached   Chapter 7. “Reimagining Education in Post-Crisis Lebanon: School Principals in the Driver’s Seat” by Nadim Matta and Haneen Sayed   Chapter 8. “Bad News from Lebanon: The Unraveling of the Media Landscape” by Sarah El-Richani  Chapter 9. “Rising from the Ashes: Art, State, and Corporate Capital in Lebanon (bis repetita)” by Marie-Nour Hechaime   Chapter 10. “Justice Without Judiciary? The Brutal Demise of a Prestigious Professional Body” by Samer Ghamroun   Chapter 11. “Political Anatomy of Civil Society Activism under Collapse: Between Embodiment and Abandonment” by Carmen Geha   Chapter 12. “Politics of Suffocation: Man-Made Environmental Deterioration in Lebanon” by Najat Saliba, Rashad Rafeh, and Carmen Geha   Epilogue by Joelle M. Abi-Rached and Sarah El-Richani

Joelle M. Abi-Rached is Associate Professor of Medicine and Founding Director of the Program on Medical History, Ethics & Politics at the American University of Beirut. She is the author of ʿAṣfūriyyeh: A History of Madness, Modernity, and War in the Middle East, and the co-author of Neuro: The New Brain Sciences and the Management of the Mind. Sarah El-Richani is Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Media and Communication Studies at Freie Universität Berlin. She is the author of The Lebanese Media: Anatomy of a System in Perpetual Crisis.

‘An ambitious, analytically sharp and morally urgent volume that seeks to document, dissect and theorise Lebanon’s multifaceted collapse since 2019. An empirically grounded and conceptually rich account.’

• Introduction.  “Why and How Nations Collapse” by Joelle M. Abi-Rached and Sarah El-Richani  Chapter 1. “Kicking-the-Can Economics: How a Regime that Failed on the Economy Survived Politically” by Ishac Diwan   Chapter 2. “Poverty Alleviation after the Meltdown: Can Microfinance Still Deliver?” by Youssef Fawaz   Chapter 3. “’Rentier Universe:’ The Geopolitics of Lebanon’s Collapse” by Mohanad Hage Ali   Chapter 4. “Syria in Lebanon: From Military Occupation and Political Hegemony to the Challenges of a Turbulent Neighborhood” by Ziad Majed  Chapter 5. “The Semiotics of Collapse: Reclaiming Urban Space for the Public Good in Beirut” by Sandra Rishani and Roula El-Khoury   Chapter 6. “The Human Cost of Misgovernance: Lebanon’s Healthcare Collapse and Dramatic Loss of Lives” by Joelle M. Abi-Rached   Chapter 7. “Reimagining Education in Post-Crisis Lebanon: School Principals in the Driver’s Seat” by Nadim Matta and Haneen Sayed   Chapter 8. “Bad News from Lebanon: The Unraveling of the Media Landscape” by Sarah El-Richani  Chapter 9. “Rising from the Ashes: Art, State, and Corporate Capital in Lebanon (bis repetita)” by Marie-Nour Hechaime   Chapter 10. “Justice Without Judiciary? The Brutal Demise of a Prestigious Professional Body” by Samer Ghamroun   Chapter 11. “Political Anatomy of Civil Society Activism under Collapse: Between Embodiment and Abandonment” by Carmen Geha   Chapter 12. “Politics of Suffocation: Man-Made Environmental Deterioration in Lebanon” by Najat Saliba, Rashad Rafeh, and Carmen Geha   Epilogue by Joelle M. Abi-Rached and Sarah El-Richani