Testimony | “Lebanon: Assessing Political Paralysis, Economic Crisis, and Challenges for U.S. Policy” July 29, 2021 Share The following testimony was presented to the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa, and Global Counterterrorism on July 29, 2021.
Chairman Deutsch, Ranking Member Wilson, distinguished Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to offer my thoughts on the unfolding economic and political crises in Lebanon, and their implications for U.S. policy. The Urgency of Now: Lebanon is facing its most acute economic crisis since the famine crisis of World War I. Aggravated by the political stalemate, the economic crisis is escalating rapidly. It is the result of decades of corruption and mismanagement of public funds by a political class working in concert with financial and banking officials, including the governor of the central bank of Lebanon.