IntroductionLebanon is characterized by a cultural identity of ethnic and religious diversity due to its position at the crossroads between the Arab hinterland and the Mediterranean basin (Choueiri, 2013). After the country's independence from France in 1943, the political system of “confessionalism” was established which allowed for the sharing of power between the different religious communities located in the region. Lebanon's capital, Beirut, serves as a regional center for trade and finance. Since independence, Lebanon has experienced alternating political stability, prosperity, and political unrest (Fisk, 2012). Lebanon is located between Israel to the south and Syria to the east and north. Instability in Middle Eastern countries, such as Israel and Syria, often spills over into Lebanon causing several cases of external aggression, political assassination, national government collapse, and civil war such as the 2006 Lebanon War, 2007 Lebanon Conflict -2008 and various cases of sectarian conflicts. violence (Marshall, 2012). This paper seeks to evaluate current events in Lebanon, their impact on the country, and what Lebanon means to the United States. The document will also provide predictive analysis of Lebanon in both the short and long term. Current Events Over the Past Three Years Over the past three years, Lebanon has experienced a period of social unrest and sectarian tension (Preston, 2014). Since Syria's civil war broke out in 2011, Lebanon has had its fair share of skirmishes. The war in Syria has led to a divide between Shiites who support the Syrian government led by Assad and Sunni Muslims who support the Syrian rebels. This turmoil led to a...... middle of paper ......in Books.Hersh, S. (2010). Looking at Lebanon. The New Yorker, 21.Marshall, J. (2012). The Lebanese connection with corruption, civil war and international drug trafficking. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Preston, M. (2014). Ending civil war in Rhodesia and Lebanon in perspective. London New York New York: Tauris Academic Studies Distributed in the United States by Palgrave Macmillan.Rolland, J. (2013). Lebanon: current issues and context. Hauppauge, New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc. Sibai, A. M., Sen, K., Baydoun, M., & Saxena, P. (2014). Population aging in Lebanon: current status, future prospects and implications for policy. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 82(3), 219-225.Walley, C. D. (2012). Some outstanding issues in the geology of Lebanon and their importance in the tectonic evolution of the Levantine region. Tectonophysics, 298(1), 37-62.