U.S. Says Doesn't Want Lebanon to Become a 'Failed State'

The White House has said that Washington does not want Lebanon to become a “failed state,” while noting that it has used “a combination of carrots and sticks” in its approach towards the country.

“One thing we want to try to make sure is that we don’t have any more failed states in the Middle East region. Failed states open vacuums, and those vacuums are not filled by moderates, they’re filled by extremist actors on all sides and become kind of proxy fights by regional powers,” a senior administration official told journalists in a year-end discussion on the Middle East.

”Lebanon had all the signs of a potential failing -- a potential failed state,” the official noted, adding that Washington has worked “quite hard” and “quite quietly” through its ambassador in Beirut and along with France and others in order to address the Lebanese situation.

The official also said that Washington imposed sanctions on “particularly corrupt individuals of Lebanon’s political system” to make clear that “the only people that can save Lebanon are the Lebanese and particularly the Lebanese political leaders who have to make hard choices to save their country.” 

“So, a combination of carrots and sticks.”

The official added that Washington is in “close touch” with Prime Minister Najib Miqati.

And citing the visits to Lebanon by U.S. Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland and U.S. Senior Advisor on Energy at the State Department Amos Hochstein, the official noted that Washington has facilitated a “very important” Egypt-Lebanon gas deal that would contribute to “maintaining stability and trying to get Lebanon out of the crisis that it’s in.”

The agreement, which has backing from the World Bank, is “getting underway,” the official added.

”An awful lot of work is going on behind the scenes on Lebanon as we move forward,” the official went on to say.