The Lebanese army: a national institution in a divided society

"This book focuses on the emergence, decline, and reconstruction of the Lebanese Army in order to explain the causes for Lebanon's weakness, 'failure', and resuscitation in recent decades. It examines the Lebanese Army as a major arena for coexistence and conflict among the major sectors of Lebanese society (communities, large families, and geographical regions); the different roles that the army had played in and out of politics since independence; and its efforts to promote the process of state formation in Lebanon"--Page xi