Unpacking the spillovers of the multifaceted Iranian-Saudi Arabian rivalry on Lebanon

Abstract

Reclaiming the mantle of Islamic leadership has led Iran and Saudi Arabia to engage in proxy-wars to counter each other’s efforts in ruling the region. Both rivals target weak States as Lebanon to exert their influence since such States have vulnerable populations that can be swayed away by their promises. Lebanon is a significant pawn in the regional competition found between both camps. Thus, among all the wars, insurgencies and uprisings in Lebanon we always seem to have Iran and Saudi Arabia indirectly involved by supporting opposing sides in the conflicts. In this senior study thesis, the relationship of the aforementioned parties with the different communities and political parties in Lebanon will be examined along with how this relationship influences the domestic politics of the country. Furthermore, the different strategies, coercive foreign policies, national interests, geostrategic ambitions and motives of both countries to finance the ongoing clashes and wars in Lebanon will be analyzed. This senior study thesis will also tackle how Lebanon is an irreplaceable piece for both countries’ geopolitical interest in the region and how this has shaped the social, religious and political landscapes of Lebanon. This senior study thesis will explain how the events that unfolded in Lebanon from 2005 till 2008 are indirectly related to Iran and KSA’s influence on the country. It will also explore how Lebanon’s location in a geopolitical shatterbelt will automatically have the country involved in the Iranian-Saudi Arabian rivalry. It will also analyze how this rivalry is destabilizing Lebanon’s socio-political landscape and how their ambitions in Lebanon and their geopolitical, economic and national interests led to political impasses, war outbreaks, insurgencies and uprisings.