“The Beginning Of A New Era”

Antony Shadid for the New York Times:

The government that Mr. Miqati […] forms may in the end look much like past cabinets in this small Mediterranean country. […] But the symbolism of Hezbollah’s choosing Lebanon’s prime minister was vast, potentially serving as the beginning of a new era for a combustible country whose conflicts have long entangled the United States, Iran and Syria. A practical impact may be the realignment of Lebanon away from the United States, which treated the government of Prime Minister Saad Hariri as an ally.

It doesn’t matter if Hezbollah really chose the new PM. For all we know, Mr. Mikati could prove harder to deal with (for Hezbollah) than Hariri. But what matters is that now the whole world believes that Hezbollah has appointed the Lebanese Prime Minister.