The Lebanese Civil War, 1975-1990 | Conflict Explainer

You mean having people from disparate faith and ethnic backgrounds all forced to live together by a central government doesn’t always work out? Fascinating

Explainer videos like this are good. There should be more of them. Thank you for making this one.

For context on how long this went on, my Grandad was in Lebanon as an Irish peacekeeping soldier with UNOGIL in 1959, my uncle and was sent in 1980 as part of UNIFIL and my brother served between 2011 and 2013. I hope Lebanon finds peace 🕊️

I think it's high time that Lebanon reclaim sovereignty over their own country.

Hi, Dr. Ker-Lindsey. Great video.

Learning about IDF-Maronite slaughtering of Palestinians was really eye-opening, and I apologize on behalf of Christendom. Even still, I’m wondering why you didn’t mention Christian exterminations like the Chouf massacres of the 80s, since they alone killed as many people and are the ones that come up most often when I talk about the war with Lebanese friends.

Thanks again.

It’s refreshing to not have a “however, our story begins” ellipsis of the historical background 😊

Are we going to have more history videos again?

Lebanese here.
The country is dysfunctional on many levels.
The creation of Lebanon was based on 2 negations in the national pact:
Christians won't ask for french protection. Muslims won't push for joining Syria.
A national identity is lacking as Christians identify as Phoenicians and muslims as Arabs.
There is no one vision for the country. Shias are in sync with Iran. Sunni follow Saudi Arabia. The Christians are pratically without compass after losing the civil war. Their numbers are dwindling while still trying to maintain political significance.
Corruption is rampant. Accountability is blocked by the shield of sectarianism.

The country should have never been created with its current borders. The different lebanese populations proved over and over that they can't coexist. It is a forced marriage doomed to fail. Partition along religious lines is the only solution.

Lebanon is the arabic yugoslavia

Diversity is strength

Excellent overview of a very complex series of events. Thank you.

Textbook “Free World” European Colonialism propaganda; 1948 was ethnic cleanse… so is the 2023.
It’s important to use the right terms.

The thumbnail brought me here. Can't wait to see how Justin Trudeau was involved in all this!

The same people who did october 7th, Where responsible for the leb civil war.

I for one was stunned that in response for the Lebanon Marine Barracks Bombing in Beruit the US invaded Grendada the next week 😅

That religion of peace 😂

Really enjoyed this I love these documentaries 🇱🇧❤️🤍🇱🇧

The population of 5.7 million includes 1.5 million of Syrian and Palestinian refugees who are non citizens

Lebanon was a great, advanced and modern Christian European country. Is>> lamic ter>> rorism des>> troyed it.

Its called Occupied Palestine 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸 … NOT so called “isghel” .. get your terms right so called “professor” …

The PLO helped too destroy Lebanon but " free Palestine" i guess🙄

I really enjoyed this video Professor James. I would definitely like to see more of these videos as it is really interesting.

Great summary sir Prof. Ker-Lindsay. I watched many of your illuminating posts, this last one I liked most. Thank you, sir.

I think you really vilify the Christian Militias, dismissing the countless massacres perpetrated by the palestinian militias which led to Sabra and Chatilla. You also don’t speak about the assassination of Bachir Gemayel - the main catalyst of that massacre. The christian militias were addressing the existential problem to remain as Christians in the east - as they were facing genocide by the muslim majority of the region who considered them to be ‘extensions of Zionism’

Thanks so much for this excellent brief history. I would at some point be highly interested to hear your take on the creation and politics of the Lebanese diaspora, comprising more than 15 million people - i.e., more than twice the population of Lebanon.

Thank you for this excellent video on the Lebanese Civil War! It does a great job breaking down a complex topic. I’d like to emphasize four points:

1. The end of Ottoman rule ended the segregation of Christians and Druze, enabling Beirut to thrive as the "Paris of the Levant" as Christians quickly adopted Western values.

2. The migration of Palestinian Arabs disrupted Lebanon’s fragile political, economic, and cultural balance, particularly after their failed attempt to overthrow Jordan’s king, when groups led by Yasser Arafat relocated, further complicating the situation.

3. Lebanese Christians, more interested in skiing in St. Moritz than fighting for a free Palestine and the destruction of Israel, faced extortion by some Palestinian groups seeking funds for their resistance.

4. The ethnoreligious balance was shattered by Muslim migration and the exodus of an estimated 678,000 to 1.31 million Christians to the West. Now, 50 years after the beginning of the civil war, Lebanon remains a deeply divided society. I fear dividing Lebanon may be necessary to secure prosperity for the Christian and Druze communities.

5. We shouldn’t ignore the direct influence of communist Russia in the region, but that likely deserves its own video.

Fantastic video - looking forward to more!

“Meanwhile, the Palestinians became a significant problem”

You couldn’t even tell what decade or country is being referenced by this widely applicable sentence 😂

Not gonna lie. Pretty one-sided take. Fails to mention Damour or the fact the PLO was kicking Christians out of their villages in the south of the country. It also fails to mention that the national pact ensured that Lebanon would neither be overtly pro-western or overtly pro-Arab. The muslims were the ones who first made overtures towards Nasserism.

Henry Kissinger exactly caused the Lebanese civil war.

This is an amazing video that managed to explain the entire 15 year war in a few minutes. I will say that you did miss Kamal Jumblatts assassination which was a turning point in the war also. Anyways I’m glad more people are speaking up about this war because up until recently the lebanese civil war was never taught in schools as history and lebanese history ended after the National pact. This is because militias and religious groups disagree about what happened and what they did. I’m glad the lebanese community can now finally know what happened in our country so it doesn’t happen again.

Im a Lebanese Maronite Catholic and I believe that the war was the fault of the Lebanese Christians who supported the Cairo Accord which effectively gave the Palestinians a state within a state. The Christians at the time sold out to the Zionists to help them rid themselves of the Palestinian question. We have no one to blame but ourselves. We allowed foreign countries to interfere in our affairs. Syria, Israel, Egypt Western countries and the gulf arabs played us like a fiddle.

The Taif accord is another sell out. Which needs its own episode.

With all the love and support for palestinians in palestine, unfortunately the palestinians are the most to be blamed:/

Typical western point of view effected by leftist journalists and arab point of view with little account on what happened from the perspective of the Christian minority community in the arab world

Extremely misleading video, whitewashing Israel’s role in the destabilization of Lebanon and its heinous crimes

Extremely misleading video, whitewashing Israel’s role in the destabilization of Lebanon and its heinous crimes

2025 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the start of the Lebanese Civil War. Even today, it remains one of the most complex conflicts of modern times. But can Lebanon ever truly escape the legacy of the conflict? And what do you think is the way to establish political stability in the country? As always, I look forward to your thoughts and comments.