Lebanon: A Failed State or a Nation Refusing to Fall

posted on: Nov 4, 2025

A Mother Sewing the Flag in Front of Her Daughter. Photo Credit: © Wikimedia Commons, 2025 via Wikimedia Commons – CC BY 4.0

By: Amir Kobeissi / Arab America Contributing Writer

Lebanon often faces a negative reputation in mainstream media and struggles with ongoing economic and regional conflict. Its unstable political system and years of hardship have deeply impacted its citizens. Yet, despite the chaos, communities continue to rebuild, and businesses find ways to survive. Whether Lebanon is a failed state depends on the nation’s resilience and determination to overcome obstacles. Arab America’s contributing writer Amir Kobeissi explores how Lebanon’s refusal to fall may define its future.

Never-Ending Crisis

Lebanon’s issues are very complex and constantly changing or worsening. Economically, the country has gone through one of the worst economic collapses since the 19th century. On top of the 2019 financial and economical issues, the 2020 Beirut Port Explosion led to massive unemployment, poverty, and limited the weight of national currency. The political system in Lebanon that is supposed to be balanced and create sectarian balance has been criticized for being corrupt and unreliable. These kinds of conditions can signal that Lebanon might be coming closer and closer to a failed state.

Signs of Failure

The states limited ability to function properly cannot be ignored, and the governments limited ability in meeting basic humanitarian needs has made it very difficult to rely on. Examples of these include water and electricity that have made people reliant on generators that can be costly. In 2024, the nationwide blackout in Lebanon served as a prime example of how fragile the infrastructure can be. The government and ruling elites in the country have not been able to gain the trust of majority in the country, and there has been a sense of desperation in a large number of people in the state.

Lebanon Protests in Tyre, 2019. Photo Credit: © Wikimedia Commons, 2025 via Wikimedia Commons – CC BY 4.0

Resilience Through Hardship

To say that Lebanon has collapsed or failed without understanding the efforts of its people would be inaccurate. Business still operate and prosper in large parts of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut. Communities come together and strive to create rebuilding groups and networks. The fact that people in Lebanon still attend college, work everyday, and strive to rebuild, shows just how much Lebanon is refusing to be defeated.

Hope for The Future

While the economy has taken a significant hit, investments and aid from other nations come in occasionally that play a crucial role in reconstruction and give hope for the future. Citizens coming together with one another in protest has helped bring groups closer even when the government has tried to restrict them. Recently in 2025, a new type of government was formed and a new president was appointed that has shown signs of a more orientated one than previous.

This idea of failure and residence matters so much specifically in the Middle East because Lebanon’s fragility is a warning that a nation may recover and adapt, but hope and community needs to be present. Its ability to survive and strive in the hardest of conditions serves to show the importance of peoples will to survive and their refusal to give up.

Lebanon Flag Heart. Photo Credit: © Wikimedia Commons, 2025 via Wikimedia Commons – CC BY 4.0

Conclusion

In the struggle of rebuilding a nation that has been tested time and time again, Lebanon stands at a crossroads between collapse and renewal. Its future will depend on whether collective resilience can overcome corruption, instability, and external pressures. While the challenges are enormous, Lebanon’s story has always been one of survival, and as long as its people continue to fight and resist, a “failed state” will never define it.

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