Expectations low for Paris conference on Lebanon
Supporting Lebanon’s neutrality and providing limited funds to deal with the Syrian refugees may be all that the Paris conference achieves.
In Paris, on March 5-6, a political conference organized by the International Support Group for Lebanon (ISG) will be held. The conference comes in the context of the major effort to support Lebanon, an effort that the ISG launched on Sept. 25, 2013, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
The conference has three stated objectives:
1. Supporting Lebanon economically, especially to face repercussions of the Syrian crisis on Lebanon’s economy. One of the first decisions in that regard, and in light of recommendations by the World Bank, which prepared a report on that, is the establishment of a trust fund to deal with the flow of Syrian refugees into Lebanon. Their number has far exceeded what the Lebanese economy can bear, and they now threaten the sustainability of the Lebanese entity, which is based on a delicate sectarian balance.
2. Building the capabilities of the Lebanese army. This is achieved by the Saudi-French partnership to arm the Lebanese army with French weapons using Saudi funding. The program extends over four years and is worth $3 billion.
