Congress is Right: Lebanon Needs Fixing

Congress is Right: Lebanon Needs Fixing

Flags of the USA and Lebanon against the background of the blue sky © Dmitrii Shirinkin / shutterstock.com

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Lebanon has been without a president since October 31. Not only do parliamentarians need to work together to fill this vacancy and form a government, they also need to elect a reformist committed to addressing the needs of the people of Lebanon. Bipartisan US Congressional leaders recognize the crucial juncture Lebanon is in and are pressing for the Biden Administration to lead the international community in responding. They are right: US leadership should encourage Lebanon’s leaders to make courageous decisions today that can build a strong foundation for tomorrow.

Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Jim Risch (R-ID), Chair and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, have not minced words in their recent letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen in encouraging the administration to “use all available leverage, including the threat of sanctions” to ensure Lebanese lawmakers elect reformers during this transition in governance. They focus on Lebanon’s financial and political elite and desire wider sanctions against those “engaging in corruption and undermining the rule of law.”

Representatives Debbie Dingell (R-MI), Darin LaHood (R-IL), and Darrell Issa (R-CA), co-chairs of the US-Lebanon Friendship Caucus, in a letter to Secretaries Blinken and Yellen, have also called on the administration to use “additional diplomatic tools” against those “obstruct[ing] democratic processes” in the country, including the presidential election, implementation of needed financial reforms, support for independence from third-party influences, and judicial independence.

The Biden Administration Must Encourage Lebanese Lawmakers to Put Their Country First

The Biden Administration has a crucial leadership opportunity with Western and Gulf Allies, especially France and Saudi Arabia, to incentivize better governance from Lebanon’s political leaders through a carrot-stick approach with the country’s elite. It will also need to prioritize the Lebanon response in a coordinated way, following its success in mediating the maritime boundary between Lebanon and Israel last fall.

Forming a government is a needed first step in addressing the challenges in Lebanon, but it is far from a solution to the challenges ailing the country. The Ponzi scheme, aided and abetted by the country’s elite, has created a historic man-made financial catastrophe. As David Hale, a former US ambassador to Lebanon, has noted, the Lebanese are the second angriest group of people in the world. They have every right to be.

The US will need to convey to Lebanese lawmakers that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has an essential role to play in the country’s financial recovery. Lebanese leaders have yet to implement the majority of reforms outlined in the staff-level agreement between the IMF and the Lebanese government. Lebanese leaders have no time to waste.