THE LEBANESE CIVIL WAR (1975-1990): CAUSES AND COSTS OF CONFLICT

Abstract

This paper analyzes the factors that caused and sustained the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war and aims to identify the main causes of the conflict. The author relies heavily on the Collier-Hoeffler Model but does not limit the list of causes of conflict to this model. The second part of the study is devoted to highlighting the costs of the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war with the explicit purpose of raising awareness among decision makers of the long-term "lose-lose" nature of such conflicts. The paper concludes that the major causes of the Lebanese civil war were sectarian dominance within a confessional system and external factors that exacerbated the problem of divergent national identities.