There is ample literature devoted to the sociology of the police in the western world, yet little research
focuses on Arab countries. This study tries to fill this gap by offering an ethnographic study of Ras
Beirut police station, the first and the only police station in Lebanon that has been reformed according
to the community policing model. The academic works focusing on the importation of this model in
developing countries point out how difficult it is to implement and emphasize its negative outcomes due
to the local characteristics of each country. Fragmented on a sectarian and a political ground, Lebanon
remains a perfect field to explore this hypothesis. Indeed the divisions of the Lebanese state weaken
the interactions between the public and the private security forces. Nevertheless, many others factors,
beyond the religious and the political divisions, explain Ras Beirut’s failure. The internal dynamics at
work inside the police station and the influence of the patronage networks reduce considerably the
chances of its success.
Topic:
Security, Civil Society, Corruption, Crime, Sociology, Governance, Transnational Actors, and State
On May 8, 2003, Hazem Saghie addressed The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. Mr. Saghie has been the editor of the weekly supplement of the London-based daily al-Hayat for the past fifteen years and served fourteen years in Beirut for the Lebanon daily al-Safir. He is currently a visiting fellow at the Institute and editor of The Predicament of the Individual in the Middle East (Saqi Books, 2000). The following is a rapporteur's summary of his remarks.
Topic:
Security and Religion
Political Geography:
Washington, Middle East, London, Lebanon, Beirut, and Czech Republic
As Secretary of State Colin Powell prepares to visit Syria and Lebanon on May 3, his agenda will most likely address the war on terrorism. The most active support for terrorism from both Damascus and Beirut is for Hizballah. To understand what the group's aims and ambitions are, few sources are better than al-Manar, Hizballah's Lebanese television station. The channel broadcasts messages calling for death to America and suicide bombings against American forces in Iraq.
Topic:
Security and Religion
Political Geography:
Iraq, America, Middle East, Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, and Beirut