What's next for Lebanon now that Hariri is back?
The prime minister's triumphant return to Beirut followed by the decision to suspend his resignation breathed new life into the Hariri dynasty and the Lebanese oligarchy that embraced Saad. However, containing the long-term repercussions of Lebanon's latest political turmoil will largely depend on the relation between that dynasty and its enabler. It is a relation shaped by four factors: the shakeup in Saudi politics, the Saudi-Iranian regional enmity, Lebanon's internal dynamics and the struggle within Hariri's Future Movement (al-Mustaqbal).
It is now increasingly apparent that Hariri's abrupt resignation was about Saudi, not Lebanese politics. Riyadh treated Lebanon's prime minister as a Saudi citizen whose businesses have long been under Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman's intense scrutiny.
At www.aljazeera.com
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