Joseph Bahout is a nonresident scholar in Carnegie’s Middle East Program. He is also the incoming director of the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut (AUB), where he is also an associate professor of political science. Until 2019, Bahout taught Middle Eastern politics at Sciences-Po in Paris, where he was an associate professor. He worked as a permanent consultant for the policy panning unit of the French Foreign Ministry from 2008 until 2014, and again from 2018 until 2020. There, he was in charge of the Levant as well as U.S. policy toward the Middle East. Bahout was also a consultant on the Middle East in the presidential campaign of Emmanuel Macron. Diwan interviewed Bahout in late August to discuss French policy toward the Levant and the Mediterranean, particularly following Macron’s visit to Lebanon in the aftermath of the devastating explosion in Beirut Port on August 4.
A More Forceful France?
In an interview, Joseph Bahout discusses French policy toward the Levant and Mediterranean, and what we should watch for.
More work from Diwan
Decoding LebanonLebanon is facing a series of simultaneous financial, economic, and political shocks. The country stands at a critical juncture, as hundreds of thousands of Lebanese have fallen under the poverty line in recent months. The protest movement that began in October 2019, following the previous government’s decision to raise taxes, is regaining momentum in spite of the lockdown from the coronavirus pandemic. The Carnegie Middle East Center will offer analyses of the multiple crises afflicting Lebanon, explaining their causes, characteristics, consequences, and potential solutions.
Is a New Lebanon War Imminent?While that’s the conventional wisdom, there are reasons to assume things may not be so simple.
Understanding Morocco’s GenZ UprisingThe country’s youthful protest movement is seeking economic improvement, social justice, and just a little hope.
Lebanon’s Maternity Leave GapWhile the country has improved its labor laws, more should be done to empower women.
Mutual Disenforcement in the Arab WorldTies between Iraq and Lebanon show how fragile regional states tend to strengthen each other’s dysfunctions.
- Hasan Hamra
