Frances Fuller puts a face on the Middle East many Americans have not yet seen. Her award-winning memoir, ‘In Borrowed Houses’, gives readers a penetrating glimpse of the Middle East from the inside.
WILMINGTON, NC, April 02, 2021 /Neptune100/ — With world leaders such as the American ambassador to Lebanon calling on the president and prime minister to put aside their differences and form a government, the Lebanese people continue to suffer the consequences of the 90% devaluation of the Lebanese lira.
Why are the Lebanese president and prime minister unable to agree on a new cabinet? How did Lebanon become a battleground in the Saudi-Iran contest for supremacy in the Middle East? Why did Auon join forces with Hizballah? What is behind the continuing chaos in Lebanon? Why does Lebanon matter so much to the world?
These are questions dealt with in Frances Fuller’s recent interview on the Lebanon crisis.
Asked if there was some basic flaw in the Lebanese system that causes the government nor to function, Frances replied: “There are basic flaws. But I need to say that we have some of the same issues here with similar results. But because Lebanon is very small, and still very complicated, the problems seem more evident and more destructive. I think we have to understand Lebanon, and you have to realize that it’s very diverse; you feel in Beirut that the whole world is there. And part of it is geography, it’s so small and compact, and vulnerable. Lebanon can’t seem to defend parts of its borders. And it has to receive, whoever shows up, whoever comes in is just there. And this has resulted in a population that includes all the surrounding people groups, anybody in the area who becomes a refugee winds up in Lebanon
