Lebanon

Ninety-six (96) local, regional, and international organizations and entities (prime actors) were identified by their peers as influential in the life of Syria. In the chart below, the left column ranks the prime actors from most influential in shaping the life in Syria (Russia) to the least influential (Relief International).

The chart also shows the classification of prime actors into five stances indicating the actor's support and contribution to inclusive nationalism for Syria, starting from the most committed (Core) to the least committed (Saboteur).

Amount of influence of Lebanon in the life of Syria, and the commitment of Lebanon to inclusive nationalism for Syria.

25 prime actors participated in the following:

Determining the rank of Lebanon according to the amount of its influence on life in Syria. As shown in the chart below, Lebanon ranked 30th most influential prime actor.
Assessing and classifying Lebanon according to its commitment to inclusive nationalism for Syria (also indicated in the same row by the colored rectangle). Of the 25 prime actors who participated in the assessments, more agreed that Lebanon falls under the category of 'Follower'. A prime actor assessed as Follower is seen as willing to build a sovereign, stable, inclusive, and developing Syria, but only when it serves its own interests.

In response to the question, “How is Russia important in the life of Syria?”

Round 3 participants stated (Nov. 2016 - Jul. 2017):

"They cannot control Hezbollah.” (239312)

"Lebanon borders Syria. They have an important history. They take in refugees. They have their own instability because of Syria. Hezbollah is important.” (235781)

Round 2 participants stated (Aug. 2016 - Oct. 2017):

“They still have no fixed border with Syria.” (221641)

“Lebanon is responsible for Hezbollah. We consider that Lebanon [declared] war against [the Syrian people] when [Hezbollah] freed a city near Homs [from the opposition]. We cannot excuse Lebanon for failing to control its borders. They could have asked the UN for help but did not. We also consider Hezbollah as occupying Lebanon.” (220291)

“They have a huge chunk of refugees. They are also the home of Hezbollah. They have no influence outside of Hezbollah.” (223881)

“They export terrorists to Syria.” (221211)

“They only have influence due to Hezbollah. The government of Lebanon announced it will not interfere with Syria. They have taken a lot of refugees, but they get the worst treatment there. Lebanon fears it is losing its identity to the refugees.” (221641)

Round 1 participants stated (Jan. 2016 - May 2016):

“Lebanon has most of the refugees. Some of the camps are like cities. The refugees are not allowed to leave.” (218631)