In theory Lebanon is an independent republic and in theory a democracy, which in theory rests upon a fair division of spoils between some 17 officially recognised religious "sects". As long as everyone suspends disbelief, the tiny country and its enterprising people thrive. But then reality comes knocking. In 1975 it came in the form of a 15-year-long civil war that left Lebanon shattered and let its neighbours, Syria and Israel, stomp in with their armies.
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