Lebanon’s externally driven push to disarm Hezbollah reveals a deeper crisis of sovereignty, as the state lacks the legitimacy, institutional capacity, and public trust necessary to reclaim monopoly over force without risking deeper instability and communal backlash.
In this Council Views, experts from the ME Council reflect on the past 100 days of the new Trump administration's disruptive foreign policy, unpacking what recent changes mean for MENA and how states are responding—from USAID and State Department cuts, to the U.S.-Iran nuclear talks, to Gulf states’ posturing ahead of the president’s expected visit