Robert G Rabil is associate professor of middle-east politics and director of graduate studies in the political-science department at Florida Atlantic University. He is the author of Embattled Neighbors: Syria, Israel and Lebanon (Lynne Rienner, 2003) and Syria, United States and the War on Terror in the Middle East (Praeger, 2006).

Recent articles

The political rivalry between the two major political blocs reinforces the flaws of Lebanon's confessional electoral system to make the national election of June 2009 a tense moment, says Robert G Rabil.

The prospects of a comprehensive peace process rest on the construction of a new political dynamic that includes a series of actors - Washington, Egypt, Syria, Iran, Israel, and Hamas and Hizbollah among them. On the eve of Barack Obama’s major speech in Cairo, Robert G Rabil surveys the terrain.

(This article was first published on 1 June 2009)

Lebanon has won a breathing-space. But the country's enduring political and military crisis is also that of the Islamist movement that appears to have won the latest round, says Robert G Rabil.

(This article was first published on 21 May 2008)

Syrian influence across Lebanon's porous borders is intensifying the country's security and political crisis, says Robert G Rabil.

Iran is up, Syria down, and Lebanon in trouble: Robert G Rabil assesses a new configuration in regional politics.