IcelandReview, Iceland
Oct 7 2005
X-Sender: Asbed Bedrossian <asbed@usc.edu>
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Iceland and Lebanon…Together at Last

Last night over dinner, I finally convinced a couple of friends to
sign on to a shamelessly geeky scheme called, for lack of something
more creative, Country of the Month. The idea sprung from a
conversation about the Russian Revolution – or watching BBC food. Not
sure. Either way, something made me think it was high time to do
something about the gaping holes in my understanding of world
history. The rough idea is to take a country and study its food,
literature, art, and history for a month with a few friends. (I’m
getting embarrassed, so I’m not going to go on.) Needless to say, it
was not met with much initial enthusiasm.

Iceland and Lebanon – I’m getting there. Last night, my plan gained
legitimacy when we chose two countries: Turkey and Armenia. Given
that Turkey will likely be one of the next countries to be welcomed
into the ever growing fold of the EU, the neighbors were a natural
choice. Let the Turkish coffee flow.

Meanwhile, Iceland remains unconvinced. And, as it turns out, so does
Lebanon. Lebanon has recently been wooed by the EU, which has pledged
its support for the small nation’s recent political and economic
reforms along with 10 million Euros. Much like Turkey, Lebanon is
probably seen as gateway into the Muslim world for Western countries,
including the United States.

But like Iceland, Lebanon is not jumping up and down to join. So this
week, academics from the two countries met at a university in Beirut
to talk about what a small nation on the edge of a growing political
alliance is to do. The difference, as Lebanon’s Daily Star points
out, is that Iceland has economic reasons for not joining, while
Lebabnon is divided on whether it thinks of itself as part of the
European world, or part of the Arab one.

Anyway, interesting to see a how growing political force forms
alliances between smaller ones. Maybe Lebanon should be next on my
list.

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