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  "authors": [
    "Lina Khatib"
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  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
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Source: Getty

In The Media
Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center

The Islamic State and the Battle of Arsal

Lebanon’s official policy of disassociation with the war in neighboring Syria hasn’t kept the conflict at bay.

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By Lina Khatib
Published on Sep 11, 2014
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Middle East

The Middle East Program in Washington combines in-depth regional knowledge with incisive comparative analysis to provide deeply informed recommendations. With expertise in the Gulf, North Africa, Iran, and Israel/Palestine, we examine crosscutting themes of political, economic, and social change in both English and Arabic.

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Source: BBC World Service Newshour

PRESENTER: Now another family is confronting the death of one of its members in the most brutal of ways. I mean to identify photographs that were posted online by the Sunni jihadist group Islamic State which purport to show a beheading. This time it’s not the family of a journalist—but of a soldier. 20-year-old Abbas Medlej, the second Lebanese soldier, that would appear, has been beheaded by the Sunni group, which has been rampaging through Iraq and Syria, but is also reached Lebanon. The country’s official policy of disassociation with the war in neighboring Syria hasn’t kept the conflict at bay. Well joining me now to discuss this here in the studio—Lina Khatib, who’s the director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut.

This interview was originally broadcasted on BBC World Service Newshour. 

About the Author

Lina Khatib

Former Director, Middle East Center

Khatib was director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. Previously, she was the co-founding head of the Program on Arab Reform and Democracy at Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law.

    Recent Work

  • In The Media
    Syria's Last Best Hope: The Southern Front

      Lina Khatib

  • Paper
    The Islamic State’s Strategy: Lasting and Expanding

      Lina Khatib

Lina Khatib
Former Director, Middle East Center
Political ReformSecurityLevantLebanonMiddle East

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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