Spot analysis from Carnegie scholars on events relating to the Middle East and North Africa.
Aram Nerguizian is senior advisor of the Program on Civil-Military Relations in Arab States at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, where his work focuses on the Lebanese security sector, long-term force transformation in the Levant, and efforts to develop national security institutions in post-conflict and divided societies.
Nerguizian is the chief executive officer of The Mortons Group, a strategy consulting firm that provides tailored solutions in civil-military planning, strategic planning support, and geopolitical risk assessments. He has also served as a senior fellow and principal subject matter expert on military and asymmetric forces in the Levant at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is the leading authority on the Lebanese armed forces and advises civil-military leadership within bilateral and multilateral efforts tied to Lebanon. He holds degrees in international affairs, political science, and business administration, and has received security assistance management training from the Defense Institute of Security Cooperation Studies.
Nerguizian is the author of numerous publications, including most recently: The Lebanese Armed Forces, Hezbollah, and Military Legitimacy (2017), The Military Balance in a Shattered Levant (2015), Between Sectarianism and Military Development: The Paradox of the Lebanese Armed Forces (2015), The Struggle for the Levant: Geopolitical Battles and the Quest for Stability (2014), and U.S-Iranian Competition in the Levant (2013). His books on Israeli-Syrian military balance and force developments in the Maghreb appeared in 2008 and 2009.
Spot analysis from Carnegie scholars on events relating to the Middle East and North Africa.
Instances of excessive and potentially lethal force by Lebanese security forces against anti-government protestors have increased in recent months, including the use of live ammunition.
The coronavirus pandemic is changing perspectives on governance and how armed forces interact with society, but nowhere is this more salient than in the Arab world.
The Lebanese armed forces’ Covid-19 response has been a success, but potential problems remain.
As protests continue in Lebanon, the armed forces must perfect new measures to respond to their accusers.
Spot analysis from Carnegie scholars on events relating to the Middle East and North Africa.
In a period of unpredictable change, Lebanon’s armed forces are indispensable to internal stability.
The determination that both the LAF and Hezbollah wish to play a larger role shaping Lebanese national security politics suggests that there may not be enough room for two preeminent military institutions in post-war Lebanon.
Most Lebanese expect the army to play a stabilizing role should the country experience spillover effects from continued popular unrest in Syria. However, Lebanon’s political forces are increasingly competing to penetrate the army and shape its orientation, undermining its relative independence from sectarian politics.
Turkey has greatly expanded its economic and security relationships with its Arab neighbors in a drive to increase its role as regional power, while Arab states retain concerns about ties with the powerful Turkish economy.