Saad’s UN Meetings

Saad Hariri’s meetings with international heavyweights has produced a big relief to a lot of Lebanese. What’s the significance of these meetings?

When Hariri the father was killed back in that black day in February, one of the immediate responses from a lot of Lebanese was a selfish one: With the death of Rafik Hariri, a man famous for his international contacts, Lebanon has lost the ears of the major world players. To these people, the sight of Saad Hariri rubbing shoulders with world leaders was gripping.

Mr. Hariri met a lot of leaders, but a careful look at whom he met reveals a great deal about Lebanon’s future strategic direction.
Hariri met with the Jordanian king, the Iraqi President, the Pakistani president and both the Turkish P.M and Foreign Minister (pictured).
Jordan, Iraq, Turkey and Pakistan are what we can call American and European Ideological Moslem Allies. I.e. Moslem countries that are led by secular, modernizing, reformist and ‘pro-western’ leaders. They together form a sort of ‘Axis’ of counter-terrorism in the European sense of the term (long term). Lebanon and Iraq are not quite there yet, but they are encouraged and cajoled to join the club. This is the context in which Saad’s meetings should be seen.
Compare that with President Lahhoud’s meeting with the Iranian President and you get the full picture about the options that lie ahead for Lebanon.

The other very important meeting (in addition to his meetings with the Foreign Ministers of Russia and The US) is the one Mr. Hariri had with Mr. Dominique De Villepin, the French (increasingly popular) Prime Minister. The Significance of this encounter is that it has the potential of replacing the famous Hariri-Chriac “friendship”. Mr. De Villepin, a youngish chap, is Chirac’s favorite successor for the French Presidency, and if the trend in France continues, he can even beat Mr. Sarcozi and actually become the French President in 2007.

A final word of caution Mr. Hariri: Your dad used a combination of luck, power and charm to maintain these contacts. Honestly, I think you’re lacking a bit in the charm department. I would advise you work on that, after all, your friends are our friends.