The Routinization of Crisis

This Anthony Shadid article is a must-read for anyone living outside Lebanon, looking to understand what is going on in the country. Shadid captures the bizarre normality of a city supposedly undergoing a political crisis: the nightclubs are full, the protesters relax and organize soccer games, and MPs from opposite sides of the political divide hug and exchange jokes. It doesn't seem, on a daily basis, like a country on the brink of civil war.

But, I think, the initial perception misses the point. Lebanese have become very good at ignoring the political crises gathering around them. They have become habituated to the cycle of one apocalyptic confrontation after another; they have even become blase about it. This doesn't mean that they don't care. It just means that they can bifurcate their lives between politics on one side, and everyday life on the other.

Still, the longer this crisis goes on, the harder it will be to mend the growing division between the two factions. The two sides are learning to live without each other. It might not seem that way, on the surface. But that's only because it's a matter of routine by now.