4 Apr 2017

The Lebanese National Dialogue: Past and present experience of consensus-building

National Dialogue Handbook: Case Studies

This paper looks at the National Dialogue experience of Lebanon. National Dialogues have been part of the country’s political and social fabric. They have served as an important consensus-building mechanism for core political actors to address issues of common national concern. The paper provides a snapshot of the history of National Dialogues in Lebanon during the civil war and onwards, followed by an assessment of aspects of the National Dialogue from 2008-2014, addressing its composition, themes, outcomes, support mechanisms, and consensus-building principles. It concludes with a more general reflection about challenges and dilemmas of the Lebanese National Dialogue.