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Papers by Karim Makdisi
South Atlantic Quateraly, 2021
On October 17, 2019, after fifteen years of civil war (1975-90) and three decades of postwar neol... more On October 17, 2019, after fifteen years of civil war (1975-90) and three decades of postwar neoliberal policies, many Lebanese rose up in mass protest against a kleptocratic ruling class of sectarian leaders and financiers that had captured , and bankrupted, the state. Protestors railed against structural corruption and demanded immediate reforms to end the overtly clientelist structure embedded in the very core of Lebanon's political and economic system. During the protest's intoxicating early days and its carnival-like atmosphere , there was a lot of hope for revolutionary change. My essay frames these protests and the hopes of the protestors. It examines why the sudden announcement of a series of regressive taxes that, in reality , had become the norm for three decades triggered such universal anger and mobilization. It also briefly charts the uprising's demise amid the unmasking of a nationwide banking Ponzi scheme, galloping inflation, palpable insecurity , national and protestor group division, and COVID-19 lockdowns. With the country in disarray, most people had been reduced to survival mode.
PassBlue, 2020
On Aug. 28, the United Nations Security Council unanimously voted to renew its peacekeeping force... more On Aug. 28, the United Nations Security Council unanimously voted to renew its peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, called Unifil, for another year. This unanimity, however, masked what had been a series of heated informal discussions on the nature of Unifil and the interpretation of its mandate. The United States, essentially representing Israel, threatened to veto the renewal resolution unless it included aggressive language to make the peacekeeping force more intrusive in search of “terrorist” Hezbollah weapons in its area of operation south of the Litani River to the UN demarcation line, called the Blue Line.The remaining 14 Council members, led by the penholder, France, on behalf of Lebanon and supported by UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s recommendations, insisted that the mandate should remain, more or less, as is.
BEIRUT — In late August, the United Nations Security Council unanimously renewed its peacekeeping... more BEIRUT — In late August, the United Nations Security Council unanimously renewed its peacekeeping operation in southern Lebanon, called Unifil. The less confrontational tone around the negotiation of Resolution 2433, contrasting with the heated debate on the renewal a year ago, can be read as a positive sign for Lebanon and the UN. It represents a successful compromise between an aggressive United States-Israeli posture toward Hezbollah and the realities on the ground in Unifil’s area of operation in southern Lebanon.
However, framed in the larger context of President Donald Trump’s unpredictable Middle East actions and unabashed pro-Israel credentials — as well as his angry rhetoric against UN inefficiency — the toning down of the 2018 renewal may also be understood as a temporary refocusing of Trump’s gaze elsewhere on behalf of Israel. As such, the terms over next year’s renewal of the UN mission in Lebanon remain far from certain.
This article explores the successful Syrian chemical weapons disarmament process (2013–2014) with... more This article explores the successful Syrian chemical weapons disarmament process (2013–2014) within the context of post-Cold War coercive arms control policy and scholarship, particularly related to the Middle East. Based on extensive interviews with individuals involved in the process, we explore the coexistence of two rival, apparently contradictory narratives: one (backed by Western states) claimed coercion was the main contributor to disarmament, while the other (defended by Syrian authorities and Russia) insisted on the process’s consensual features. Our study suggests that the hybrid disarmament framework, embodied in a unique joint mission between the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, conveniently accommodated both narratives, which in turn contributed to the mission’s success. We then ask whether, with the apparent US retreat in the Middle East, the Syrian case (as well as the 2015 Iran nuclear deal) signals a possible turn in international non-conventional arms control processes that would leave more room for consent and diplomacy.
This report was submitted by the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), Berlin, and the Leba... more This report was submitted by the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), Berlin, and the Lebanese Centre for Policy Studies (LCPS), Beirut, in collaboration with the Toledo International Centre for Peace (CITpax), Madrid, and the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and ...
Israel's war on Gaza will not end with a cessation of hostilities, or even a ceasefire. Nor will ... more Israel's war on Gaza will not end with a cessation of hostilities, or even a ceasefire. Nor will it end with an armed struggle shorn of political context. Instead, argues Dr. Karim Makdisi a new, post-peace process period is being consolidated, this time with Israel on the back foot
Water on Sand: Environmental Histories of the Middle East and North Africa, 2012
International Journal of Water Resources Development, 2007
This paper examines what it means for Lebanon to adopt a human rights approach to water. Experts ... more This paper examines what it means for Lebanon to adopt a human rights approach to water. Experts agree that there is a crisis in the water sector, with the poor suffering disproportionately in terms of access to, availability and quality of water. The paper details the gap between Lebanon's political acceptance of water as a human right, and its implementation. It suggests that the civil war, Israeli occupation and mismanagement reduced Lebanon's capacity to ensure an adequate water and sanitation services to its citizens. A lack of political will due to clientalist and sectarian considerations in public policy, ineffective public participation and tension over transboundary water resources have further intensified this problem and has led to the continued dominance of traditional security considerations in water policy. The paper asserts that the main goals set by the current reform process of the water sector address important capacity issues, such as efficiency gains and cost recovery, but do not signal a political shift towards a human rights-based approach.
Books by Karim Makdisi
Since its inception in 1945, the United Nations has played an outsized role in the Arab world. On... more Since its inception in 1945, the United Nations has played an outsized role in the Arab world. One of the first missions it undertook ended with the partition of Palestine. Seven decades later, the Arab-Israeli conflict continues to hang over the General Assembly. More recent wars in the Arab world continue to plague the United Nations, which serves as mediator and punching bag for all sides of the political spectrum. This volume collects some of the finest intellectuals on the promise and problems of the United Nations. They offer wide-ranging treatments of the work of the United Nations, while accounting for the geo-political contradiction amongst member states. This is a landmark book and the first of its kind—a close and informed study of the United Nations in a tumultuous region of the world.
This collected volume presents reflections from prominent international peacemakers in the Middle... more This collected volume presents reflections from prominent international peacemakers in the Middle
East, including Jimmy Carter, Lakhdar Brahimi, Jan Eliasson, Alvaro de Soto, and others. It provides
unique insights and lessons learned about diplomacy and international peace mediation practice based
on real life experience. The personal stories offer a critical analysis of successful and unsuccessful
peace processes, as well as the chances and limits of solving the most intractable conflicts in the
region and other parts of the world.
IR, Geopolitics, US Policy by Karim Makdisi
MENA Politics Newsletter, Volume 2, Issue 1, Spring., 2019
South Atlantic Quateraly, 2021
On October 17, 2019, after fifteen years of civil war (1975-90) and three decades of postwar neol... more On October 17, 2019, after fifteen years of civil war (1975-90) and three decades of postwar neoliberal policies, many Lebanese rose up in mass protest against a kleptocratic ruling class of sectarian leaders and financiers that had captured , and bankrupted, the state. Protestors railed against structural corruption and demanded immediate reforms to end the overtly clientelist structure embedded in the very core of Lebanon's political and economic system. During the protest's intoxicating early days and its carnival-like atmosphere , there was a lot of hope for revolutionary change. My essay frames these protests and the hopes of the protestors. It examines why the sudden announcement of a series of regressive taxes that, in reality , had become the norm for three decades triggered such universal anger and mobilization. It also briefly charts the uprising's demise amid the unmasking of a nationwide banking Ponzi scheme, galloping inflation, palpable insecurity , national and protestor group division, and COVID-19 lockdowns. With the country in disarray, most people had been reduced to survival mode.
PassBlue, 2020
On Aug. 28, the United Nations Security Council unanimously voted to renew its peacekeeping force... more On Aug. 28, the United Nations Security Council unanimously voted to renew its peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, called Unifil, for another year. This unanimity, however, masked what had been a series of heated informal discussions on the nature of Unifil and the interpretation of its mandate. The United States, essentially representing Israel, threatened to veto the renewal resolution unless it included aggressive language to make the peacekeeping force more intrusive in search of “terrorist” Hezbollah weapons in its area of operation south of the Litani River to the UN demarcation line, called the Blue Line.The remaining 14 Council members, led by the penholder, France, on behalf of Lebanon and supported by UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s recommendations, insisted that the mandate should remain, more or less, as is.
BEIRUT — In late August, the United Nations Security Council unanimously renewed its peacekeeping... more BEIRUT — In late August, the United Nations Security Council unanimously renewed its peacekeeping operation in southern Lebanon, called Unifil. The less confrontational tone around the negotiation of Resolution 2433, contrasting with the heated debate on the renewal a year ago, can be read as a positive sign for Lebanon and the UN. It represents a successful compromise between an aggressive United States-Israeli posture toward Hezbollah and the realities on the ground in Unifil’s area of operation in southern Lebanon.
However, framed in the larger context of President Donald Trump’s unpredictable Middle East actions and unabashed pro-Israel credentials — as well as his angry rhetoric against UN inefficiency — the toning down of the 2018 renewal may also be understood as a temporary refocusing of Trump’s gaze elsewhere on behalf of Israel. As such, the terms over next year’s renewal of the UN mission in Lebanon remain far from certain.
This article explores the successful Syrian chemical weapons disarmament process (2013–2014) with... more This article explores the successful Syrian chemical weapons disarmament process (2013–2014) within the context of post-Cold War coercive arms control policy and scholarship, particularly related to the Middle East. Based on extensive interviews with individuals involved in the process, we explore the coexistence of two rival, apparently contradictory narratives: one (backed by Western states) claimed coercion was the main contributor to disarmament, while the other (defended by Syrian authorities and Russia) insisted on the process’s consensual features. Our study suggests that the hybrid disarmament framework, embodied in a unique joint mission between the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, conveniently accommodated both narratives, which in turn contributed to the mission’s success. We then ask whether, with the apparent US retreat in the Middle East, the Syrian case (as well as the 2015 Iran nuclear deal) signals a possible turn in international non-conventional arms control processes that would leave more room for consent and diplomacy.
This report was submitted by the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), Berlin, and the Leba... more This report was submitted by the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), Berlin, and the Lebanese Centre for Policy Studies (LCPS), Beirut, in collaboration with the Toledo International Centre for Peace (CITpax), Madrid, and the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and ...
Israel's war on Gaza will not end with a cessation of hostilities, or even a ceasefire. Nor will ... more Israel's war on Gaza will not end with a cessation of hostilities, or even a ceasefire. Nor will it end with an armed struggle shorn of political context. Instead, argues Dr. Karim Makdisi a new, post-peace process period is being consolidated, this time with Israel on the back foot
Water on Sand: Environmental Histories of the Middle East and North Africa, 2012
International Journal of Water Resources Development, 2007
This paper examines what it means for Lebanon to adopt a human rights approach to water. Experts ... more This paper examines what it means for Lebanon to adopt a human rights approach to water. Experts agree that there is a crisis in the water sector, with the poor suffering disproportionately in terms of access to, availability and quality of water. The paper details the gap between Lebanon's political acceptance of water as a human right, and its implementation. It suggests that the civil war, Israeli occupation and mismanagement reduced Lebanon's capacity to ensure an adequate water and sanitation services to its citizens. A lack of political will due to clientalist and sectarian considerations in public policy, ineffective public participation and tension over transboundary water resources have further intensified this problem and has led to the continued dominance of traditional security considerations in water policy. The paper asserts that the main goals set by the current reform process of the water sector address important capacity issues, such as efficiency gains and cost recovery, but do not signal a political shift towards a human rights-based approach.
Since its inception in 1945, the United Nations has played an outsized role in the Arab world. On... more Since its inception in 1945, the United Nations has played an outsized role in the Arab world. One of the first missions it undertook ended with the partition of Palestine. Seven decades later, the Arab-Israeli conflict continues to hang over the General Assembly. More recent wars in the Arab world continue to plague the United Nations, which serves as mediator and punching bag for all sides of the political spectrum. This volume collects some of the finest intellectuals on the promise and problems of the United Nations. They offer wide-ranging treatments of the work of the United Nations, while accounting for the geo-political contradiction amongst member states. This is a landmark book and the first of its kind—a close and informed study of the United Nations in a tumultuous region of the world.
This collected volume presents reflections from prominent international peacemakers in the Middle... more This collected volume presents reflections from prominent international peacemakers in the Middle
East, including Jimmy Carter, Lakhdar Brahimi, Jan Eliasson, Alvaro de Soto, and others. It provides
unique insights and lessons learned about diplomacy and international peace mediation practice based
on real life experience. The personal stories offer a critical analysis of successful and unsuccessful
peace processes, as well as the chances and limits of solving the most intractable conflicts in the
region and other parts of the world.
MENA Politics Newsletter, Volume 2, Issue 1, Spring., 2019