Lebanon's Foreign Trade Relations in the Postwar Era: Scenarios for Integration (1990–Present)

Abstract

As a small country with limited cultivated land and very few natural resources, Lebanon has always exhibited far greater dependence on the international economy than other countries in its region. Successive Lebanese governments have taken this dependence on the global economy as a given, trying to make it work to the advantage of the national economy.' In the postwar period (1990-present) Lebanese governments have striven to overcome the devastation caused by the war (which also severed many of Lebanon's links to the outside world) and restore growth to the national economy, largely by seeking closer ties with the Arab and European economies and greater integration into the global economy. As a prelude to the discussion of the three integration scenarios, the first part of the article provides some background information on the balance of trade and the composition and geographical distribution of Lebanon's foreign trade. The second, third and fourth parts discuss the three main integration scenarios, whilst the conclusion focuses on some of the problems involved in the simultaneous pursuit of all three projects, and speculates on whether or not Lebanon's policy-making elite possesses the will and the resources to overcome the challenges involved in transforming the local economy into a competitive one that is closely integrated with the Arab and European economies and immersed in the global economy.