Beirut port explosion : humanitarian aid and political stability dilemma

Abstract EN

Beirut port explosion is linked to a series of suffocating crises.

Lebanese people are suffering from the repercussions of disasters such as economic decline, government corruption, and the frequent con flicts that led to political instability.

This prompted many countries and international organizations to provide aid to the people in the context of disastrous diplomacy.

This study aimed to identify the impact of international humanitarian aid and the extent of its potential contribution to political stability in Lebanon by answering the following question: Can humanitarian aid contribute to restoring the political stability lost for several years? The study concluded that many obstacles prevent foreign humanitarian aid from restoring political stability: the lack of aid donor countries’ trust in the current Lebanese political institutions, the fear of granting funds because they may reach Hezbollah, a corrupt and incompetent bureaucratic administration which would waste all the allocated resources, the failure in establishing a new, consensual, non-sectarian government.

Despite all this, aid may incentivize the political elites to intensify their efforts towards the formation of such a government and the introduction of the necessary reforms for the Lebanese people to overcome the crises they are experiencing.