The curse of Lebanese summers

Sitting in the same spot where she almost met death on Aug. 4, 2020, on the same sofa where she heard bombs fall one after the other on the southern suburbs of Beirut between September and November of last year.This July night is mild. The sliding glass door is ajar, and she can see the wind, carrying a hint of the sea's scent, stirring the bougainvillea of an indescribable color growing in the streets of Beirut. Yet nothing manages to ease her anxiety.On her screen, she listens to the successive statements made by U.S. envoy Tom Barrack during his visit to Beirut. Politics has never really been her thing — she doesn’t understand much of it — but she knows, she feels deep in her gut, that once again, Lebanon is on a knife’s edge. Need the context? Despite Barrack’s bonhomie, Washington remains dissatisfied with Lebanon’s response ...