Lebanon Deserves More Than the Minimum: A Call for Peace, Not Just the Absence of War
After decades of conflict, managed crises, and temporary ceasefires, the real question is no longer why peace — but what Lebanon has actually gained from hostility, and what it could gain from stability, openness, and regional partnership.
I respect your opinion — but it represents only one segment of Lebanese society, not all Lebanese. Many of us no longer see Lebanon’s future in endless wars, temporary ceasefires, and managed crises. We see it in peace, stability, economic growth, and regional integration.
If peace is still “very unlikely,” then what exactly is the purpose of all these negotiations?
Are we negotiating only to secure another temporary ceasefire while the entire Middle East is being economically and strategically remapped around us?
Or are we negotiating to surrender more land, more leverage, and more resources while gaining nothing lasting in return?
During the interview, when asked about the difference between peace and normalization, you said normalization means people talking to each other, trade, tourism, and normal relations between two countries.
- War
- Displacement
- Rockets & airstrikes
- Assassinations
- Explosive drones
- Evacuated towns
- Terrified civilians
- Economic collapse
- Trade
- Tourism
- Dialogue
- Investment
- Technology
- Energy cooperation
- Normal relations
- Economic growth
Is trade worse than war? Is tourism worse than displacement? Is dialogue worse than rockets? Are investments worse than economic collapse? Are normal relations worse than explosive drones, airstrikes, assassinations, evacuated towns, and terrified civilians on both sides of the border?
“What many Lebanese want is not merely the absence of war. We do not want a peace agreement that exists only on paper.”
We want a real, sustainable peace that opens the door to investment, technology, energy cooperation, trade, tourism, and opportunities for future generations. After decades of conflict, the question is no longer: Why peace? The real question is: What has Lebanon gained from hostility? And what could Lebanon gain from stability, openness, and regional partnership while fully preserving its sovereignty and national interests?
Lebanon deserves to think about the maximum gains, not merely the minimum losses.
We are not asking for the minimum peace. We are asking for a peace that creates a future — a peace that transforms Lebanon from a battlefield into a partner in the region’s economy.
We are smart. We should get outside the obsolete, useless policies — or more accurately, the absence of any policy at all.
Mr. Ziad Baroud,
I respect your opinion, but it does not represent all Lebanese people. There is a broad segment — and according to the latest polls — that no longer sees Lebanon’s future in perpetual wars and crisis management, but rather in peace and stability and openness to the region and the world.
If talk of peace is so utterly excluded, then what is the purpose of all the negotiations taking place?
Are we negotiating only to secure a temporary ceasefire, while the entire region is being reshaped economically and strategically around us?
Or are we negotiating to offer more concessions on the ground and borders and gas, as happened previously?
During the interview, when asked about the difference between peace and normalization, I answered that peace is a piece of paper — and that normalization means people talking to each other, and there being trade and tourism and normal relations between the two countries.
Where is the problem in that?
- War
- Displacement
- Rockets & explosions
- Assassinations
- Drones & shelling
- Evacuating cities
- Bulldozing villages
- Terrorized civilians
- Economic collapse
- Trade
- Tourism
- Dialogue
- Investment
- Energy cooperation
- Technology
- Normal relations
- Generational opportunity
- Economic growth
Is trade worse than war? Is tourism worse than displacement? Is dialogue worse than rockets? Is investment worse than economic collapse? Are normal relations worse than drones and explosions and assassinations and shelling and raids and evacuating cities and bulldozing villages and terrorizing civilians on both sides of the border?
“What we want is not ‘minimum peace’ or just a piece of paper that gets signed and then forgotten.”
We want real, sustainable peace that opens doors to investment and energy and technology and trade exchange and opportunities for entire generations of Lebanese people. After decades of conflict, the question is no longer: Why peace?
The question is: What has Lebanon gained from enmity?
And what can it gain from stability and openness — if that preserves its sovereignty and national interests?
Lebanon deserves to think in terms of big gains, not to settle for managing losses. We are not demanding minimum peace, but peace that builds a future. Peace that transforms Lebanon from a battlefield into a partner in the region’s economy.
Intelligence means emerging from outdated narratives with policies that match reality and the modern era — so that we emerge with some kind of victory. Real, even if just once.
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