Visiting explosion-ravaged Beirut this week, France´s leader comforted distraught crowds, promised to rebuild the city and claimed that the blast pierced France´s own heart. “France will never let Lebanon go,” Macron said. “The heart of the French people still beats to the pulse of Beirut.”
His critics denounced the overtures as a neocolonialist foray by a European leader seeking to restore sway over a troubled Middle Eastern land – and distract from mounting problems at home. A meme circulating online dubbed him Macron Bonaparte, a 21st century Emperor Napoleon.
But Macron´s defenders – including desperate Beirut residents who called him “our only hope” – praised him for visiting gutted neighborhoods where Lebanese leaders fear to tread, and for trying to hold Lebanon´s politicians accountable for the corruption and mismanagement blamed for Tuesday´s deadly blast.
Macron´s visit exposed France´s central challenge as it prepares to host an international donors conference for Lebanon on Sunday: how to help a country in crisis, where French economic ties run deep, without interfering in its internal affairs.
“We are walking on the edge of a precipice. We have to aid, support and encourage the Lebanese people, but at the same time not give the impression that we want to establish a new protectorate, which would be completely stupid,” said Jack Lang, a former French government minister who now heads the Arab World Institute in Paris. “We must find new, intelligent solutions to aid the Lebanese.”
France´s ties with Lebanon reach back at least to the 16th century, when the French monarchy negotiated with Ottoman rulers to protect Christians – and secure influence – in the region. By the time of the 1920-1946 French mandate, Lebanon already had a network of French schools and French speakers that survives to this day – along with France´s cozy relationships with Lebanon´s power brokers, including some accused of fueling its political and economic crisis.
A surprising online petition emerged this week asking France to temporarily restore its mandate, saying Lebanon´s leaders have shown “total inability to secure and manage the country.”
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