Robert G Rabil

Robert G Rabil is assistant professor of middle-east politics and director of graduate studies in the political-science department at Florida Atlantic University.

Hizbollah vs Israel: the coming clash

A shifting balance of calculation in the middle east makes Lebanon’s Hizbollah movement more confident in its strategy of “deterrence-by-terror” vis-à-vis Israel, says Robert G Rabil

By Robert G Rabil

/ 9 Mar 2010

Lebanon at the crossroads

Lebanon's parliamentary elections on 7 June 2009 find the country at a point where its (and especially Beirut's) confessional system both tear and temper its complex

By Robert G Rabil

/ 5 Jun 2009

Barack Obama's middle east: pragmatism and hope

President Barack Obama is expected to address the Arab world by delivering a speech on 4 June 2009 in the most populous Arab state, Egypt. The event is important for

By Robert G Rabil

/ 3 Jun 2009

Hizbollah and Lebanon: the curse of a state

The military campaign launched in May 2008 by the Shi'a Islamist party Hizbollah to control Beirut has raised fundamental questions about the very existence of Lebanon as a

By Robert G Rabil

/ 22 May 2008

Lebanon divided

Lebanon's politics remain highly charged as the anniversary of the end of the war of July-August 2006 approaches and the campaign for the presidential election on 25 September

By Robert G Rabil

/ 7 Aug 2007

Lebanon, Syria, Iran: lessons of Sharm el-Sheikh

A diplomatic highlight of the international summit on Iraq at Sharm el-Sheikh on 3-4 May 2007 was the meeting between the United States secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and her

By Robert G Rabil

/ 10 May 2007