Lebanon's downward spiral

Is Lebanon headed towards civil war again?
What remains obvious has never been clearer than the present.
People currently camped outside the heart of Beirut are calling for a radical change in government in Lebanon. This country is at the edge of its identity crisis and something has got to give.

The Lebanese are very polarized in their views on the situation in their country. Here is the sad reality that people rarely get to mention. Much as they want unity, there are those who also still discriminate and conceal their own prejudices about religion, ethnicity and social status; and who discreetly define their own meaning of being Lebanese. Are they Arab, Phoenician, Muslim, Christian, are they more european than middle eastern or a little western than they really care to admit, or even the opposite? There is a diverse blend of identities that somehow are still finding it difficult to truly define a nationalistic identity of its people.

It isn't clear whether they truly know how to embrace diversity yet nor establish their true alliances. Remnants of the past 1975 civil war also still remain in the minds of the people. Many are bitter and have bred prejudice more than acceptance because of the destruction that has ravaged this beautiful country.

Fundamentally, Lebanon's struggle for independence lies in its inability to carve out a unified identity. And in the coming months, more truths will unravel about the hypocrisies that plague this nation.