"The people want the army": Is the Lebanese military an exception to the crisis of the state?

Abstract

Since 2011, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) have been at the centre of socio-political struggles, as the fallout from the Syrian crisis and the ever-present threat of jihadist terrorism have exacerbated sentiments tied to the country's political vacuum and insecurity. Yet this popular call for a "return" of the army to the public scene does not stem from the lasting power of militarist tendencies rooted in society. On the contrary, in the context of a profound crisis of public institutions and the general discrediting of political and sectarian actors, this myth of the army primarily works on an imagined civility. From this perspective, the LAF is not valued for its ability to militarise society but mainly for its potential to "civilise" public space and state institutions.