Abstract:
Postwar reconstruction has attracted the attention of many scholars in the last few
decades. Different theories offer alternative routes to postwar reconstruction. Some theories
suggest that postwar reconstruction entails financial security and policy, while others contend
that reconstruction programs cannot be effective without building state institutions as a
precondition for fiscal security.
Lebanon is an important test case for theories of postwar reconstruction. This thesis
examines postwar reconstruction in Lebanon. It does so by examining closely the late Prime
Minister Rafik Hariri’s economic plan “Horizon 2000”, its outlines, goals, origins, contents, and
financing. It aims at analyzing how its adoption molded and reshaped the economic and political
postwar system in Lebanon, and to evaluate its effectiveness and underscore its shortcomings.
This examination will be placed in the broader context of the literature on postwar
reconstruction. Specifically, the thesis interrogates the impact of Hariri’s economic choices on
postwar state building, clientalism, corruption, and sectarianism.
