SFG President and Executive Director visited Beirut in May to interact with senior officials of Lebanon Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Water and Energy and the Litani River Authority. They also had in-depth consultations with political leaders, including Nayla Mowad, former First Lady and Minister for Social Affairs associated with the ruling party, and General Michel Aoun, former chief of army staff associated with the opposition. They visited Arab Forum for Environment and Development.

Besides consultations on regional water security, SFG representatives were invited by Carnegie Middle East Centre for a seminar on India’s Role in the Changing World. Ambassador Ravi Thapar, India’s envoy in Beirut, hosted a dinner in their honour.

Beirut is known for its diversity. A half an hour drive can take one from mountains to seashore, from bustling fashion streets to dilapidated buildings, from areas dominated by Christian communities to the ones where Muslims are predominant. When harnessed creatively, such diversity can produce enriching results. When exploited and manipulated, it can undermine the potential of a great nation. The conflict between a desire to harness diversity and to exploit it is evident in Lebanon. It is reflected in its politics, constitutional arrangements, policy discourse, relations with neighbours, and the Lebanese approach towards the water issue.

The visit exposed SFG to two views in Lebanon to the regional conundrum. One view is to wait until balance of power changes on the ground and Israel is forced to vacate occupied Arab territories and consent to an independent state for the Palestinians. According to this view, Lebanon can wait for ever and nothing much needs to be done to change relations between Arab countries, domestic governance, relations with Turkey and other neighbours. The resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict in all its aspects must await any progress, since a country threatened by conflict cannot do much.

The opposite view is for great powers to hold confidential conversations with all parties, to negotiate a compromise and impose it through a UN Security Council resolution. Since it will be difficult for all governments to sign a peace treaty that will essentially need to be based on a compromise and give and take, the rulers can save face by pointing to the imposition of a solution by the international community in the form of the UN resolution.

Similar dichotomy is expressed in the Lebanese perspectives on the water issue. One view is to subject any regional cooperation agreement to prior endorsement of the UN Convention on Water (1997) by relevant parties, which has been signed by 17 out of 200 odd UN member countries and ignored by almost all major riparian countries in the world, and wait until Turkey and Israel change their positions. The opposite view is to explore a regional cooperation agreement between the parties that are willing to agree on a shared vision and programme of sustainable water management and introduce measures that can change situation on the ground for the betterment of population. This view does not treat the UN Convention or any other instrument as a precondition for a pragmatic regional strategy.

The seminar on India indicated the interest of the Lebanese policy elite to reach out to countries outside the Middle East. Dr Paul Salem, highly respected Director of the Carnegie Middle East Centre, explained that his institution had been hosting discourse on relations with all major emerging economies. Some politicians in Lebanon indicated that other countries in the broader region, including Turkey, would also seek partnership with countries further to the east including those in Central Asia, India and China. The writing on the wall is becoming clear. If the countries in the Middle East find early solutions to their conflicts and differences, they will be able to gain from the promise of regional cooperation. Otherwise there is a risk of each one seeking partners outside the region and allowing the region to enmesh further into discord and uncertainty.

SFG advocated at the Carnegie seminar that water and environment can provide cornerstone of regional cooperation, which can be eventually expanded into other economic spheres, thereby enabling the region to emerge as a reliable partner for outside interests and more significantly as a place to build healthy and prosperous future for population in different parts of the Middle East.