From Michel Chiha to Rafik Hariri. (c2012)

Abstract

This thesis tries to trace the effect of Michel Chiha’s ideas about Lebanon in Rafik Hariri’s discourse. Chiha is arguably the founder of the 1926 constitution, the architect of the Lebanese economy, and the theorist of the Lebanese political system. Rafik Hariri, on the other hand, is the Godfather of Ta‘ef Accord signed in 1989 and the architect of the reconstruction plan. Two main political figures lived in totally different eras, yet still share many similarities. These similarities are mainly derived from a shared discourse that links identity to geography. Accordingly, the political and economic identity of Lebanon is defined by reference to a geographic conceptual frame. In this vein, Lebanon is defined as a haven for minorities whose inhabitants are born to be traders. This conceptual frame has been inherited by the political class since the formation of Lebanon in 1920. Chiha propagated and theorized for Lebanon as a permanent entity for “inter-sharing minorities” and as having a free market economy. Hariri adopted this vision of Lebanon after a 15 years civil war. Such a relation between Hariri and Chiha might look irrelevant because of their different sectarian background. However, this is the main claim of this thesis, which is figuring out the role of the same class interest in shaping Chiha’s and Hariri’s discourses. This will be achieved by analyzing and comparing the main features of their respective discourses, in order to show where the two diverge and converge, and at what points they contradict each other, and why?