Ep.276 (Video): Dumb Politics with Nadim Shehadi

0:00 Intro 0:25 America 28:50 Stability & Crisis Management 47:56 Two Narratives 1:01:49 Sovereignty & Neutrality 1:23:38 October 17 We're with Nadim Shehadi for Episode 276 of The Beirut Banyan. Click to watch: https://youtu.be/502pNWB33_E We discuss America's influence in Lebanon over the past two centuries, and the soft power interchange among people and education vs a more recent foreign policy defined by hard power expenditure and bureaucracy. Our conversation includes a fork in the road for Lebanon and two possible narratives emerging, one cautiously optimistic and the other catastrophic. We also debate sovereignty and neutrality and focus in on past disassociation agreements, and conclude with perspectives on the October 17 uprising's political prospects for next year's parliamentary elections. Nadim Shehadi is the Executive Director of the Lebanese American University New York Headquarters and Academic Center. The article mentioned at the start of the episode is linked below: https://www.arabnews.com/node/1914966 Help support The Beirut Banyan by contributing via PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/walkbeirut Or donating through our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/thebeirutbanyan Subscribe to our podcast from your preferred platform. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter: @thebeirutbanyan And check out our website: www.beirutbanyan.com Music by Marc Codsi. Animation & illustration by Sana Chaaban.