Jihad Azour, director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund. (Credit: Ali Khalil/AFP)
From the entrance hall, the stage is set. On the left, there is a photo of Gamal Abdel Nasser greeting the masses in Alexandria, as well as an illustration of the legendary Egyptian singer Oum Kalthoum. On the right, there is a large piece of Arabic calligraphy that reads “al-Arabi,” once the logo of the Arab Bank headquarters in downtown Beirut.Jihad Azour’s residence in Beirut’s Wadi Abou Jamil neighborhood reveals parts of his character, as well as the evolution of his political ideas. The director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department was lured in the first part of his life by pan-Arabism and pan-Syrianism. Born into a family aligned with the Syrian Social Nationalist Party hailing from Sir al-Dinnieh in the mountains above Tripoli, Azour was himself influenced by the ideas of SSNP founder Antoun Saadeh in the first...
From the entrance hall, the stage is set. On the left, there is a photo of Gamal Abdel Nasser greeting the masses in Alexandria, as well as an illustration of the legendary Egyptian singer Oum Kalthoum. On the right, there is a large piece of Arabic calligraphy that reads “al-Arabi,” once the logo of the Arab Bank headquarters in downtown Beirut.Jihad Azour’s residence in Beirut’s Wadi Abou Jamil neighborhood reveals parts of his character, as well as the evolution of his political ideas. The director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department was lured in the first part of his life by pan-Arabism and pan-Syrianism. Born into a family aligned with the Syrian Social Nationalist Party hailing from Sir al-Dinnieh in the mountains above Tripoli, Azour was himself influenced by the ideas of SSNP founder Antoun Saadeh in...