The Uneasy Inter-communal Relations in Lebanon

This paper presents the development of the inter-communal relations in Lebanon and it approaches issues such as diversity and identity. Ever since the creation of modern Lebanon in 1920, the principle of proportionality has been subject of a significant inter-communal debate. Although, proportionality was to support state’s development and fair representation of all religious groups, it ended up the basis for a rigid political system, which turned into a major problem for the inter-communal political relationship, situation which escalated to civil war. The war, not only emphasized the inter-communal debate of what constituted a fair power-distribution system, but it also deepened this question, because it added new components such as new political actors.