ASSESSMENTS
Lebanon Stands on the Edge of Spiraling Violence
![undefined and Senior Middle East and North Africa Analyst at RANE](https://www.stratfor.com/sites/default/files/profiles/photos/Ryan_Bohl_website%20%281%29.jpg)
![undefined and Global Security Analyst](https://www.stratfor.com/sites/default/files/profiles/photos/Thomas-Abi-Hanna_0.jpg)
Jan 17, 2020 | 11:00 GMT
![Lebanese police walk by a bank vandalized during protests in Beirut on Jan. 16, 2020.](https://worldview.stratfor.com/sites/default/files/styles/2x1_full/public/lebanon-crisis-display-gettyimages-1193940980.jpg?itok=D3uhBEqw)
Lebanese riot police walk past the branch of a vandalized bank in Beirut after anti-government protesters took to the streets on Jan. 16. As the violence grows, so will the odds that armed sectarian factions will confront the demonstrators.
(ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)
Highlight
- Protesters have adopted more aggressive tactics to pressure Lebanon’s fractured government and to express anger at the country’s economic situation.
- But Lebanon still has no functioning government, and the ongoing political paralysis appears likely to only worsen the economic crisis.
- Lebanon’s political factions will increasingly consider escalating their own tactics, deploying their armed supporters to counter the protest movements. A corresponding uptick of violence could erode the country's security.
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