Lebanon is inching closer toward becoming a failing state. Services are mediocre, the infrastructure crumbling, garbage piling up and the economy contracting. Now Beirut has added yet another failure to its list: Amateurish diplomacy that is turning whoever is left of Lebanon's friends into enemies. Lebanon’s deteriorating relationship with Saudi Arabia is a case in point.
But before we understand the reasons behind Beirut’s crumbling relations with Riyadh, a quick history is in order.
During the civil war, the Lebanese state managed to maintain some neutrality and decency. In the thick of war, Beirut deployed skilled Foreign Ministers like Fouad Boutros and savvy diplomats like Ghassan Tueni.
But when the war ended in 1991, warlords and their militias took over the state and infested its bureaucracy. Suddenly, the nation’s foreign ministry turned from the voice of a weak, yet credible, government into one of the spoils rewarded to Lebanon’s new and incompetent leaders.
During the 1990s, late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri — a leader with unparalleled skills — covered up for the failure of Lebanese diplomacy. During all-out wars with Israel, like in 1996, Hariri shuttled between foreign capitals and invaded international broadcasts making the case for Lebanon.
At the Arab Summit in Beirut in 2002, when Syrian President Bashar al-Assad instructed his Lebanese counterpart Emile Lahoud to censor late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s live video address from his siege in Ramallah, it was Hariri who roamed the corridors at Phoenicia Hotel and brought back the Palestinian delegation, thus saving face for Beirut and its summit.
But after Hariri, the inadequacy of Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry became evident, especially after the takeover by Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, an engineer by training. Those who think career diplomats can make up for Bassil’s inexperience, keep in mind that — like in the rest of the Lebanese bureaucracy — sectarian quota and appointment by political intercession trumps qualification.
Bassil’s shortcomings at Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry — like in his role at the Ministery of Electricity — have been evident for a long time. Bassil abused state resources by treating himself to a summer trip to Brazil to watch the 2014 World Cup games, justifying his trip by saying that its goal was to connect with the Lebanese Diaspora (even though emigrants usually visit Lebanon in the summer).
The Lebanese also watched another one of Bassil’s scandals, on video, when he looked as if he was offering the sexual services of one of Lebanon’s senior female diplomats in New York to the Foreign Minister of the UAE.
Bassil’s blunders at the Foreign Ministry and his amateurism eventually caught up with him at the Arab League’s meeting that was convened, in January, to condemn Iranian attacks on the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Meshhad.
Had Bassil had the slightest of diplomatic wit, he would have noticed that Iran’s three most ardent Arab allies — Iraq, Oman and Algeria — voted for the resolution. Algeria, which noted its reservation on commending the Saudi severing of ties with Iran, still voted for the resolution. Bassil did not.
Even Iranian President Hassan Rouhani denounced the attacks and said that his government had opened an investigation to punish the perpetrators.
So here you have it: Lebanon’s talentless Foreign Minister Bassil, who won his position thanks to his familial connections, has taken down the last shred of respectability that the Lebanese state once enjoyed.
Perhaps Bassil thought that Arab League meeting was one of Lebanon’s irrelevant cabinet meetings. Perhaps he thought he could erase his mistake by having his and Hezbollah’s media tweaking the story, just like they did with the UN Tribunal, among other false propaganda stunts.
Unfortunately, the only thing worse than Bassil’s blunder at the Arab League was the Lebanese failure to understand the mistake and rectify it.
Lebanon’s enemies of Saudi Arabia started questioning its angry position. Lebanon’s friends of Saudi Arabia launched a campaign against Iran and Hezbollah.
A better response might be to review the bylaws of the Arab League and see whether Beirut can recast Lebanon’s vote. Symbolic as it may be, recasting the vote might tell Riyadh that Beirut understands that Lebanese-Saudi relations cannot be run by amateurs like Bassil, for if Saudi Arabia believes that the Lebanese government is in the image of Bassil, the kingdom will certainly continue distancing itself away from Lebanon, for the first time since the inception of both countries.
Recasting Lebanon’s vote at the Arab League might help rekindle the crumbling Lebanese-Saudi friendship, which if it ever collapses, will cost the Lebanese dearly.
Hussain Abdul-Hussain is the Washington Bureau Chief of Kuwaiti newspaper Alrai. He tweet @hahussain.
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