Old colonial powers are bidding for influence in Lebanon

AS CELEBRATIONS GO, it was sombre. A century earlier French officials stood in Beirut’s imposing Résidence des Pins (the French ambassador’s villa) and carved Lebanon out of their mandate in Syria. On September 1st Emmanuel Macron travelled there to mark the event—and to lecture the politicians who have helped turn Lebanon into a failed state.Lebanon has always been a plaything for foreign powers. America, Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Syria have all meddled in the tiny country’s tortured politics. As Lebanon sinks into economic and humanitarian crisis, two of its old colonial masters, France and Turkey, are making worrying bids for renewed influence.