Even in Beirut’s most affluent neighborhoods, the streets have gone dark. The few restaurants and bars that somehow braved the economic crisis, the coronavirus lockdowns, and the Aug. 4 port blast still have their lights on, as do homeowners who earn in dollars or have sufficient family wealth to afford generators, although even their electricity supply is rationed. Everyone else in Lebanon has had to accept living in a country with dwindling cash reserves, no fuel, and frequent power cuts.
What was once an oasis of peace and stability in the Middle East is becoming a failed state. What happens when hope is lost? That is the question that the Lebanese are finally asking themselves.
