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'The Cedar Revolution' and Lebanese Independence and the Question of Collective Self-Determination

Kurtulus, Ersun N (2009) 'The Cedar Revolution' and Lebanese Independence and the Question of Collective Self-Determination. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 36 (2). pp. 195-214. ISSN 1353-0194. (doi:10.1080/13530190903007251) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:24160)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13530190903007251

Abstract

The article rejects the notion conveyed by the expression 'the Cedar Revolution' that Lebanon has recently experienced radical political changes. On the basis of an empirical survey of recent developments, it identifies four elements of continuity; the confessional nature of Lebanese politics, the omnipresence of trans-national alliances, the confrontational nature of the political rhetoric and the continuation of foreign interventions in Lebanon's internal affairs. Making use of opinion surveys, it argues that some of these elements indicate the existence of an independence-integration cleavage in Lebanon which follows sectarian lines and which renders the conceptualization of Lebanese citizens as a collective actor able to exercise collective self-determination-either by gaining complete independence or establishing close ties with Syria-problematic. Finally, it argues at a theoretical level that the problem of collective agent and the ensuing problem of collective self-determination can potentially emerge in any polity where there is an independence-integration cleavage.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1080/13530190903007251
Subjects: J Political Science
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Politics and International Relations
Depositing User: Ersun Kurtulus
Date Deposited: 31 Mar 2010 06:51 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:02 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/24160 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Kurtulus, Ersun N.

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