LEBANON, A COUNTRY IN THE SHADOW OF DAMASCUS

Events that shaped the countries of the Mediterranean

An episode from the series ECHOES OF HISTORY

Synopsis

Syria has always considered Lebanon as its own as it believes it was cut off from its "historical" territory when France granted independence to the country of the Cedars in 1943.

But it was only in 1976, one year after the beginning of the Lebanese civil war, that Syrian President Hafez el-Assad ordered his troops to enter Lebanon. Since that day, Syria has settled there permanently because for Damascus it represents a major geostrategic asset in its conflict with Israel.

By what means and at what cost did the "Lion of Damascus" manage to keep control of the Land of the Cedars? After his death in 2000, how did his son Bashar manage, in the space of five years, to dissipate this precious political legacy?