Who ever had the opportunity to travel to the Beqaa Valley, like I had today, will soon have realised just how difficult it is to hold control over a state like Lebanon. The coast of Lebanon has always been a place to trade and exchange between different countries and empires. Tyros, Saida, Byblos or Tripolis… Continue reading Two States in one
Author: Simon Dierich
Journalist from Germany, currently resident in Beirut.
Specified in the politics of the Levant. General interest in world affairs.
Delta is coming closer
The new COVID variation from India, called Delta, is on the rise all over the globe and frightens people and governments. Now, first cases have been reported in Lebanon. States that came along pretty well with the pandemic so far, such as Taiwan and Vietnam, or were able to vaccinate many of their people, such… Continue reading Delta is coming closer
A surprising Turnaround
Nearly eleven month after the deadly explosion in the port of Beirut, while no one really wasn´t expecting this, there seems to be some kind of progress taking place in the investigation of this catastrophe. In February, leading judge of the investigations, Fadi Sawwan, resigned. He accused several members of parliament to be involved and… Continue reading A surprising Turnaround
The divine Blessing
Where secular powers are about to fail, one may look for higher forces, as happened in the Vatican on Thursday. But what does it mean for Lebanon?
01.07.21
The last couple of days were pretty taff, even for lebanese proportions. And so far, it doesn´t look like there will be any less chaos in the future. Probably, it will intensify. The currency hit a new all-time low during the weekend, on saturday the rate on the black-market was 18.000 LL to one US-Dollar,… Continue reading 01.07.21
The Foreign Policy of CDU/CSU
The big conservative party of the german parliament finally showed their program for the upcomming elections. How does it look like?
After all, Religion?
The Cedar-Republic has always been a place, where different religions and even more confessions use to meet each other. And there have been conflicts and wars on the way. The crises of today seems to have a different reason, and confessionalism, defining politics in accordance to religious borders, is now even hatred by many Lebanese.… Continue reading After all, Religion?
The Ancient Mediterranean
Michael Grant describes in his book the Ancient Mediterranean the three great episodes of the ancient world, the first advanced civilisations, as that one of Crete and Egypt of course, after that the great epoche of the Greeks and finally the empire of the Romans, until now the only power ever able to politically unite… Continue reading The Ancient Mediterranean
Captain Abu Raed
Slowly is his walking up the stairs towards his flat. One step, another one, the same slowly waltz throughout the the way. It´s the beginning of the movie, it´s the stage and almost an entire world. The old men´s name is Abu Raed, living in a poor area of Amman, the capital of Jordan, and… Continue reading Captain Abu Raed
Tripolis
Lines of traffic are unavoidable nowadays. If you drive the coastway from Beirut up north, there´re fortunately not that many fuel-stations, so that the traffic is not too bad. Only a bit. And so I was able to avoid hours of sitting in a minibus and could explore Tripolis once again, the first city of… Continue reading Tripolis
Simon Dierich 