Starting off from a Clean State

Tracy and Paul Naggear*

“Education, Law, Gas and Oil, Culture, Health, Economy, etc.”

There are very few things that are working in our dear country, and whatever is, clearly is not at the right level for its citizens. From electricity to justice to transportation, education and environment, banking and financial systems. Even tourism, traditionally a flagship industry, is frail and subpar. This generalized crisis is stemming from successive failed political systems, governed by warlords incompetent in matters of state and governance, since the end of the war and probably before that. This is factual and not personally biased - today, around 85% of our population lives under the poverty line, our currency has been devaluated tenfold with no access to savings, and the Beirut explosion destroyed our capital.

But our situation is also emanating from a lack of understanding of a modern state and the concept of modern citizenship by Lebanese. Confessional survival and our fear of the other remain primary drivers for the mid to older generation; it is a stigma that needs to be wiped off. Rebuilding Lebanon is about a factory reset from a governance perspective, and starting again on a clean slate. This is not about fancy projects, nor is it about leapfrogging to surrealistic ideals. It is about laying down the fundamentals to prosper while maintaining our culture and heritage. It is about crafting a new modern system for the youth and our children to live in happily and safely.

Fundamentally, no country can be livable, “normal”, let alone prosper without a set of rules to live by, and accountability. First and foremost, Lebanon needs an effective judiciary system, totally independent from political affairs. An independent, strong judiciary will allow Lebanese all over the world to overcome the Beirut Port explosion trauma, removing this dark cloud from our minds and shared history, and helping us move on. This is just one part of it. Without proper justice, there is no safety and security, unconscious people would still fire celebratory bullets, killing citizens and getting away with it. Without proper justice, resident and diaspora citizens will never regain trust in our economy, industry, environmental projects, and so on. Implementing the change will come from two major components. First, the Parliament should vote in favor of the proposed law for the independence of justice. Next, we will need to make sure that all judges and judiciary bodies are reliable, protected, and nonbiased politically.

The second pillar of rebuilding is a dual one: competent governance and true citizenship. Let’s be clear: we live in one of the tiniest countries in the world. Our population is half of the population of Paris, a city. We have fantastic land, talent, and probably off-shore energy resources. So in theory, with true citizenship and competent people managing, our country should be one of the easiest to manage! If the USA are Walmart, then Lebanon is your neighborhood’s grocery store. And before becoming the leading economy, the U.S. had their fair share of internal issues and wars. This means first that Lebanese must come together and agree on what defines Lebanese citizenship today. And if they don’t then let the majority decide, and the others either adapt, let go, or fight for their vision of it. In our opinion, it is simply about being able to live happily, safely, in respect of each other and our environment, provide for ourselves and our children, and enjoy our culture. This also means that we must integrate that people whom we will trust to rebuild our country are not royalty and shouldn’t be technocrats. They will be as they are in any other “normal” country in the world: public servants that know extremely well how to govern, and expert in their fields. Lastly, this means that resident and diaspora citizens culturally modify their concept of representation towards competence, within a system that favors competence versus confession and clientelism.

Finally, the third pillar we foresee is one of economic development, innovation, and job creation. It is no mystery that in economies with such levels of crises, particularly where devaluation hit hard, focus is put on competitiveness and exports. We do not have natural resources yet, nor industry and agricultural leadership. Yet we are unique in our exceptional human resources. We are professionally and technically smart. We are lucky to have good academic levels that allow us to thrive in our jobs, wherever we go. We have pioneer businesses and are praised as entrepreneurs globally. This means that we have a strong diaspora as well that shouldn’t turn us into a welfare state, but on the contrary source services from back home. And we have experience to prove it! This is at the very core of our business setting up an innovation agency in Lebanon. We believed from the very beginning that we could serve the whole region through Lebanese talent, and we succeeded. We are definitely not the first, as so many companies in tech, engineering, financial services, trading, etc. have preceded us. So this is just about scaling this model to the maximum and setting up a state-of-the-art framework for it. In practice and to name few initiatives here, we should align with the diaspora and global trends about the priority services, leverage our advantageous fiscal system yet set up favorable trade agreements for such exports, and create superior working experiences for exporting businesses and talents.

Lebanon is our country. It is our right as citizens to enjoy our lives in it. By starting off from a clean slate, yet with a system embracing fundamentals as the three described above, and a common understanding of what it means to be Lebanese today, we will get our country back, because we believe that the greater part of our population wants to live in a new Lebanon. A Lebanon free from its past yet of course embracing its roots and heritage. A “normal” country where we can just be happy.

* We are the parents of 3.5-year old Alexandra Naggear, who passed away as a result of the

Beirut Port explosion on the 4th of August 2020. We are both founders and directors of FABERNOVEL Middle East, a Paris-based innovation agency focusing on delivering strategy, design, and technology development across several industries, with the aim of employing and growing Lebanese tech talent.