Should the Lebanese feel proud or impotent and embarrassed amid the regional and international interest in the pressing cabinet crisis in their country? In other countries, weeks pass without a government being established, whether in Israel, whose perpetual crises require coalition governments, without this constituting an impasse for the political system, or in countries with long-standing democratic traditions, such as Italy, traditionally famous for its government crises, or Germany, where a chancellor returning with a majority after recent elections might take weeks to form a cabinet as well. However, in Europe there is no worrying about the fate of the country, and no rush to solve the crisis by neighbors; instead, the fate of government formation in these countries does not rest on an agreement or lack of agreement by external parties. The most correct feeling toward the government crisis in Lebanon is that Lebanese feel ashamed by the constant rushing into the arms of foreign sponsorship whenever a domestic impasse results. There is total subservience to the roles and interests of external parties, which has given these interests a justification to intervene, under the cover of safeguarding the internal situation and preventing a collapse. It is a country whose political class is unable to play its role as a protector of its institutions and loyal to its Constitution. This political class itself, or at least a large part of its, has taken on the domestic function of being only a mirror of the foreigners' whims and interests. Thus, it is no longer surprising for a visit to a state that exercises influence in Lebanon to precede any domestic position or media statement by a given Lebanese side, as it tries to mold its stance to what circumstances require. This interest in Lebanon does not involve any danger posed by a small country to the regional situation. Certainly, the land of the cedars is not planning to make a nuclear bomb that can spread anxiety, or attack a neighboring country militarily, which could reshuffle calculations by neighbors; such a matter has become unlikely with international resolutions safeguarding these borders. The only explanation for this interest is that there is a flagrant domestic inability to solve disputes, which has various repercussions. In the end, the “big solutions” for the country's crises and critical junctures in its political path bear the names of non-Lebanese cities and places, which have worked to produce a solution (from Taif to Doha). This is no condemnation of these outside parties as much as it as a condemnation of the small country, its leaders and its people; they have come to see that letting outside powers decide their fate requires no censure or embarrassment. Other countries surrounding Lebanon have experienced more complex crises than an inability to form a cabinet – there is the profound dispute in the case of inter-Palestinian division, which threatens to undo the entire country, and there are the wars in Yemen. But the regional concern with these crises does not go beyond calls to end internal conflict and reach an inclusive agreement over solutions that prevent fighting or reduce its sharpness. In any case, there is no indication that the solutions to these crises are awaiting political agreements conducted by foreigners, or that these settlements, if they take place, will be sufficient by themselves to arrive at a solution. Only the Lebanese government crisis hints at being magically connected to external disputes; the Lebanese domestic political and media scene do not hide the decision to wait for the outcomes of summits convened elsewhere, wagering on them as a way to solve the cabinet crises and the general domestic impasse. No element of strength is involved in allowing the region to trump local politics in solving these crises. On the country, this involves a clear declaration that the country is unable to govern itself, not only because many politicians are captive to foreign powers, but more importantly, because most of them lack, to a large extent, a sense of national belonging in dealing with public affairs; perhaps this is the biggest defect in the current Lebanese predicament.
