The presidents of Syria and Lebanon are scheduled to meet next Tuesday in Damascus to discuss the relationship between the two neighbors, as well as how recent developments in the region might affect them.
Meetings between Lebanese and Syrian leaders are growing more commonplace, as their once frosty relations continues to thaw at a steady pace. Earlier this month, Saad Hariri made his second official visit to Damascus since becoming Prime Minister in an effort to “get Lebanon and Syria on the same page” ahead of Hariri’s visit to Washington to meet with President Obama.
Obama and Hariri had much to discuss during their summit, including Syria’s alleged transfer of weapons to Hizballah, as well as Lebanon’s current role on the United Nations Security Council. The Obama administration is currently undertaking an agressive effort to put together a sanctions package that would effectively stop or slow down Iran’s uranium enrichment program.
It seems that Damascus felt another such meeting was necessary, this time with President Suleiman, in order to discuss the old topics (Hizballah’s weapons and Iranian sanctions) in addition to recent developments surrounding Israel’s botched raid on a humanitarian flotilla that was attempting to break that country’s sea blockade of Gaza.
Following a period of violence, resentment, and chaos after the assassination of Rafik Hariri in 2005, and the subsequent withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanese soil after a near 30-year occupation, relations between Damascus and Beirut have blossomed. The turning point came just after the June 2009 Lebanese parliamentary elections, when Saudi Arabia (who blame Syria for Hariri’s death) decided that it was more useful to have Syria as an ally than an enemy and began to remove all opposition to Syrian influence in Lebanon.
Today, as in the pre-2005 days, Syria once again wields considerable power in Lebanon, albeit without the occupation. Now there are frequent attempts for the two nations to “get on the same page”, as Damascus tries to eliminate any daylight between the two countries that Western nations (the United States) might try to exploit.
As a result, we now see Lebanon essentially annexed into the alliance of Syrian and Iran.
